


When Pandora bleeds...

by PhantomKuro



Series: Runaway KID [2]
Category: Magic Kaito, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: Immortal, M/M, conan turns back, much angst, pandora controls them
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:28:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 35
Words: 38,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24663118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhantomKuro/pseuds/PhantomKuro
Summary: A few years have gone by since the disappearance of Kaitou KID. Kuroba Kaito, worldfamous magician by the age of 27, kept his half of Pandora always close to himself to protect it, trusting the statue of Kudo Shinichi to hide the second one. Abandoned by his childhood friend Aoko after revealing his identity to her and her alone, Kaito's only and very last task is to guard his half of the gem he splitted several years ago, the blue diamond named "Soul".Maybe it was a curse.Maybe it was fate.Maybe eternal life doesn't sound as bad.***"...Kaitou KID. It's you, right?"His sapphire eyes smiled even if his face kept a perfect pokerface. Kaito tilted his head, silent, shadowing his face as perfect as always. The colour of his eyes was disturbing, glowing, reflecting the moonlight casted upon them.Purple, bleeding into a speck of red.A tiny gust of wind sent a shiver down the detective's back as he shifted from one leg to the other, averting his eyes, trying to shake off the uncomfortable feeling KID's stare projected into his guts.Were those the same eyes he had missed all those years?
Relationships: Kudou Shinichi | Edogawa Conan/Kuroba Kaito | Kaitou Kid, kaishin, shinkai - Relationship
Series: Runaway KID [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1783120
Comments: 9
Kudos: 76





	1. Show Evening

_How old is he?_

Kaito knew he should have stopped since long to think of him, rewind all the encounters, project his memories in front of his inner eye.

_Did he find a cure?_

As far as he knew, Kudo Shinichi hadn't come back yet. The applause of the crowd around him went like a hollow echo through his head, it was a simple trick and yet it was able to create such a wave of fascination.

_Edogawa Conan should be seventeen years old. Kudo Shinichi twentyseven. Had Shinichi been abandoned? Forgotten?_

Kaito's lips curled up into a mischievous smile as he bowed to the crowd, ending his glorious magic show with a last disappearing act. He had come to know that this was an essential crowd pleaser- and somehow, it made him feel nostalgic regarding his own dark past as Kaitou KID. Kaito didn't need any agent, anybody promoting him, he worked alone and wouldn't ever rely on others again more than necessary.

_I want him to see me._

Kaito shook his head, dismissing any further interrupting thoughts, and headed down the rather tight backstage floor towards his assigned room.  
His gaze slid from the mirror on the opposite wall to the catering next to it, then further to the left to his garderobe and from there to his desk. A frown dared to make its way onto the mischievous face of Kaito's as he recognized a familiar red fluid seeping out of a box he knew too well.

Sighing, he closed the door behind himself and went to pick up the box, carefully drying it with napkins spread out for his use. Kaito made sure to clean every single spot until nothing was left- he had been very careful to keep this secret and wasn't going to risk anybody mistaking the fluid for blood. He had been pretty shaken himself at the first discovery, mere days after splitting the blue diamond "Soul".

Pandora had begun to bleed, every full moon, precise like a clockwork. What this meant, Kaito didn't know and didn't want to know, either. It had turned into a routine for the worldfamous magician; Kaito paid attention to his half of the gem like his father would have done.  
Instead of disposing himself of the wet napkins, he stuffed them into his pockets and checked his room once again for any hidden cameras any crazy fan could have brought in here. Kaito was very careful at what he was doing. It was his last and only task.

Sometimes people needed to let go of something to embrace new ideas. However, cutting ties with all of his former friends had been hard for the magician, yet it was a step he had been willed to take. Kaito often remembered the first day after his last magic trick as Kaitou KID.

_Ahoko, please, don't cry._

Aoko hadn't taken his confession well. She had kicked him out of her and her father's house the moment after; she hadn't called him for breakfast the next morning, either. Kaito grieved for a long time after this. No words were spoken.  
Around half a month later, the doorbell had rung. Aoko had explained to him in her silent and shaky voice, that she couldn't accept the choice Kaito had made, the humiliation he had forced her father, the task force and various detectives through.

_For a gem? All that for a gem?!_

Kaito had just stared at her, nodding along to every word she had said, every insult she had thrown at him, every stab she had forced into his soul. He knew it was his fault her father had missed a lot of Aoko's childhood.

_Don't... Don't visit me again, Kaito-kun. I... I can't live with this. Please... Leave me alone._

Kaito had moved out the very next day. No word of goodbye to anyone, no trace for anybody to follow. Sometimes Kaito thought about Kudo Yusaku's offer to catch up on each other... but what sense did it make? It left an open end he couldn't close, it might have even enabled his dearest rival to sniff out a trace.

Jii had died two years after, leaving him only with minimum contact to his mother. He had organized the funeral all by himself. She was proud of him, very proud.  
Her little baby had become an adult.

_I wonder..._

Kaito left the backstage area through a secret exit and took a breather of fresh air outside, enjoying the cool night on his skin. It made him feel warm inside, warm with memories and love.  
The magician flashed a glance at the full moon and smiled.

_...does Pandora bleed inside your heart, Meitantei?_

The garden full of statues he had given his Meitantei as his last trick went through his mind. He had replaced Kudo Shinichi's stone heart with Pandora's other half, for the statue to hide and protect it.  
Kaito grimaced as he felt the gross and wet napkins in his pocket and pulled each of them out to throw them away into a local dustbin. Better here than in his room. The fluid had gotten stuck on his hands the first time he had seen and cleaned it up in panic of anybody finding out, the reason he constantly wore gloves since then. What it had done to him, Kaito didn't know and didn't care, either.

The magician bit gently into the glove on his left hand and pulled it slowly off, revealing the reddish marks from the first encounter with Pandora's blood. It looked like he had dived hands first into a gruesome crime scene full of blood and hadn't washed his hands after that. But Kaito did, and how much he had done. Yet the marks remained, Pandora's blood hadn't left him anymore.

Secretly, Kaito found them a little pretty.


	2. Curse

Conan caressed the stone cheek of his childhood love Mouri Ran, standing in middle of the garden of statues he had been gifted by Kaitou KID.

_I'm finally where I started off. Seventeen and about to graduate, again. Kind of stupid, don't you think so?_

His hand wandered over her shoulder, along her arm and to her stone hand she had outstretched, pointing at something she most likely wanted to show her stone Shinichi. Both were holding hands, Ran seemingly pulling the detective to whereever she wanted to go, excitement and joy in her expression. KID had truly created a masterpiece, in every single statue.  
Conan grasped the outstretched hand and held it gently, thumb caressing the back of her hand. Her own hand had been just as cold as this stone and Conan was painfully aware of that fact, yet he couldn't bring himself to let go of the statue.

_I shouldn't have stayed with you and Mouri-san, Ran. I'm sorry. It shouldn't have went this way._

This one fatal moment where his curse had hit Ran instead of anybody else. The girl who had always survived, the girl who had never given up.

_You had been covered by a rag when I came home to see you. Cold and rid of life._

Much to his surprise, it hadn't been the Black Organization. It had been the attack of a former criminal Mouri Kogoro had brought behind bars years ago. A molotov cocktail thrown into the agency, a scream and a large explosion was all the neighbors had recognized. Everything had happened so fast, everything he had loved so dearly was gone in one second.

_Your hand was slightly burned... not as soft and gentle as usual..._

Conan had to turn away to suppress his upcoming tears. What was it worth to cry about? It had happened, he couldn't change it. At least he had found the killer the same day.

_You are dead since three years, Ran... I wish I could have told you how I really feel. I wish I could have kissed you. I wish I... I wish I could have revealed myself before your death._

Conan couldn't avoid to let his eyes fall instead onto the KID statue right behind him as soon as he had averted himself from Ran. A small crow had settled on top of the stone hat, glaring carefully down onto the detective, ready to fly away at any wrong or too quick action taken by him. Conan snorted and tilted his head, staring back just as wary.

_Kaitou KID... Would you rather resemble a bunny or a bird?_

Conan shook his head to get rid of the thought and lowered his gaze onto the forget-me-nots covering the ground. How many years had it been since he had heard of Kaitou KID? His disappearance had created a storm of mass media and thousands of reporters trying to interview Edogawa Conan about this.

_I wonder where you are._

It happened in the evening that Conan finally noticed. The full moon bled onto its surroundings, diving the earth into a silverish glow... it was a beautiful night, indeed. Conan had abandoned his comfortable bed inside the Kudo manor to stand at the window and observe the night sky since long; every full moon he felt a slight unnerving tension going through his body. The wind, the moon, the darkness... it all reminded him of Kaitou KID and what he had done for him.  
As his gaze slipped from the nightsky and onto the statues, something caught his eyes.

_Shinichi... is Shinichi bleeding?_

Conan couldn't believe his eyes. He quickly whirled around and threw a morning robe over, halfway trying to stumble down the stairs during it. His heartbeat felt so much higher than before, an unbearable excitement made his stomach flutter happily.

_Did you leave me a hint? <7em>_

_Conan flew out of his house and into the garden, doing a full stop in front of the statue, phone in hand. Eyes narrowed onto the unnatural view, he tried to analyze what he saw to understand it. KID had always been a mystery, creating a statue which could bleed from their heart years after his disappearance wasn't too off.  
Tiny cracks were visible in the statues' heart and Conan couldn't resist, didn't want to resist. He lifted a stone from the ground and began to slam it against the heart, over and over again. The statue shook, cracks widened; Conan continued, desperate for answers. Nobody had seen KID since years.  
The fluid began to cover his hands the more he punched the statue, Conan didn't care. Finally- the heart crumbled and fell to the ground; more of the fluid splashed out like a waterfall, hitting Conan full force, obviously collected through all those years. The detective grimaced and shook himself once._

__Ew... My body tingles... What is this feeling...?_ _

_The last thing he made out was a splitted gem inside the hole he had made, shining like the moon itself, pulsing as more and more blood appeared, forming a large puddle on the ground.  
Conan's vision went black._


	3. Pandora's Blood

Eyes fluttered open to a sunray blinding him.

_God why is it so cold in here...?!_

The young detective tried to lift his hand to shield his eyes, shifting on the uncomfortable ground as a familiar noise of rustling allowed his brain to pause for a moment.

_Leaves? Mud? As in... dirt? Why am I laying inside a puddle of-_

Conan froze, cutting his thought short as he felt resistance around his hand, barely allowing any movement. What was that? Squinting his eyes, he peeled himself under highest effort off of the ground. That wasn't mud, that was... sticky slime?  
A grimace on his face, Conan scratched the gross substance from his own face and tried to brush it off of his clothes, then allowed himself a quick glance back, only to pale in shock.

_Blood?! Dried blood?! I spent an entire night covered in masses of dried blood?!_

The detective gagged for a moment, having to close his eyes to focus onto something different. This was too much.

_Breathe, Shinichi! You saw blood often enough!_

Having calmed his churning stomach for at least this very moment, Conan looked up at his statue. The gem was still inside the cracked heart yet lifeless, gone were all those flashy sparkles and intoxicating noises this stone made for him. Gurgling noises, spilling masses of blood, covering him- Conan gagged once more and finally raised himself onto shaking legs, dusting the rest of his clothes off as good as he could.

_KID._

As soon as this name crossed his thoughts again, Conan whirled back around towards the statue and snatched the gem out of it. Free of any gross substance, clear and undeniable, the diamond "Soul" KID had stolen years ago.  
Well... a half of it.

_Are you carrying the other half? Do you want me give you the second one? Keep it?_

Excitement began to bubble up inside his stomach as he examined it for any kind of clue towards KID. There had to be something.  
Conan flew back into his house, there was no time to shower, he had a gem to study.

_I will find you, KID._

Conan rushed past the kitchen, doing a full stop a meter further and backtracking his steps slowly, unsure eyes flashing back and forth between the stairs to his father's study and the kitchen.

_...but first a coffee._

Impatient as ever, Conan stood in front of the coffee machine, fumbling around with the gem in his hands. What was the thing that had been glowing inside the gem? Nothing he could see now, at least. Had it been a dream? Some crazy hallucination? But the gem was there, inside his hands-

_Coffee._

"Coffee", Conan spoke out loud to himself, cutting his own trail of thoughts off. Coffee now, investigations later. With the smell of his favorite black essence of life filling the kitchen, a mind already drifting off towards the latest incident and nothing planned for today, Conan grabbed his mug and settled down at the table. This was about to be a good day.

_Maybe I should shower first. It's only fluid of a stone but it does look like blood and it's pretty gross._

Conan threw a longing glance onto his mug before he raised himself with a grunt of displeasure from his comfortable seat and took the steps upwards into the bathroom to rid himself off of his clothes and step into a relaxing and awaited shower.  
The crust all over his skin went off, however...

Conan stared at his hands and arms, blood red. Some kind of allergic reaction? But how could someone be allergic to a stone? He didn't feel different at all. Only skin irritation?  
The detective had to admit to himself, he did feel kinda bouncy, something entirely different to the usual lack of energy due to his lack of sleep and coffee overuse. He had blamed KID's riddle for it but was it a side effect?  
Two fingers found their way towards his neck and Conan relaxed, concentrating onto his pulse. Strong and clear, without any kind of disturbing hint.

_I hope it'll wear off._

Conan wasn't too found to see himself every day as red as a tomato on every part of his body. For the time being, he would have to hide himself... nothing the detective wasn't used to.  
Sighing deeply, Conan stepped out of the shower and dried himself off with a towel, freezing in the same second.

_Red.. Red... Is really all of my skin red...?!_

Stumbling over to the nearest mirror, Conan took a look at himself and nearly screamed, eyes wide in horror. His entire face was also red, his fluffy brown hair the only thing on him which was a different colour, together with his bright sapphire eyes.

_Calm down Shinichi, it's going to be fine, it's totally going to be fine. It's a prank. It's just a prank. KID just spilled some kinda dye over you. Calm down and move on. You can kick his ass when you find him._

Nodding to himself, Conan clenched his teeth and forced his gaze away from the mirror. The gem. Now.

Minutes later inside the kitchen, the already desperate detective faced another shock of his life. Only one small sip of his coffee he had been planning to enjoy left his mouth faster than it entered it, with a look of utter disgust, Conan spew it all over the table out again. Eyes flashing back and forth between his mug of coffee and the puddle he caused on the table, Conan had to sit for a moment and digest that.

This was the most awful thing he had ever had inside his mouth.

_Is there anything wrong with the coffee machine...?_

Conan got up and unscrewed the machine to take a proper look inside. By best means, he wasn't a technician, yet he knew his godsent coffee maker in and out.  
"There's nothing wrong at all..."  
Sighing, Conan decided to go out and buy himself a coffee to go. He knew his brain wouldn't function properly without some black life essence... but he felt so energetic, maybe it wasn't necessary? Usually Conan knew he needed at least two cups of coffee to put his braincells to use but now?

"Hm..."

Just what was going on with him?


	4. Gross and more Gross

Conan, intending to raise himself for a small walk into the next coffee shop, decided against his inner demon and plopped back down onto his seat. He had to analyze the gem now, and he was obviously awake enough to put his braincells to good use. Why bother for an unnecessary walk if he had a mystery in front of his nose?

_It doesn't look properly cut, rather... like KID tried his best to break it but didn't succeed._

He paused, turning the gem in his hands. This had been KID's last target before he had kidnapped Ran. Conan stifled a chuckle, feelings of sympathy and anger at the same time bubbling up in his stomach.

_What an asshole._

Conan wouldn't ever forget what KID had done for him. He couldn't have been more grateful since Ran's death... With her statue, Conan always had a magnificent way to remember his childhood love.

_Life is cruel..._

KID had stolen the gem from Suzuki Jirokichi, displayed for him in a large trap. Conan couldn't suppress that tiny eyeroll- this guy really played with fire. Challenging Kaitou KID was bound to end in a catastrophe.  
This was KID's last real target, this was the reason KID quit his life as a moonlighting thief. Conan stared at the gem like it was going to answer all his questions.

_Did KID know it could bleed like this? Was this gem the reason for Kaitou KID?_

Conan honestly doubted that a simple gem was reason enough to play a large and white "Shoot me" target during the night. Yet, when did he ever get KID's true intentions overall? That guy was insane enough to let himself be framed for nearly destroying the sunflowers of Van Gogh before Conan could clear the case and bleach KID's tarnished cape.  
Was there any mechanical explanation for the gem's blood? Conan tried to search for any clue but didn't find a single one. Around lunchtime, he finally gave up and stuffed the gem into his pocket. Even if he found out the reason for the fluid, it wasn't guaranteed to lead him to KID.

Conan got up from his seat and fetched napkins to clean the mess he had made, then poured the rest of the terrible coffee away. He would get a coffee to go and some lunch at the café close by, he decided. Sighing, the young detective took on his shoes and a jacket, then grabbed his purse and marched out of the door. Maybe this would get him onto different thoughts.

_No way in hell, KID's day of disappearance is closing in. A wonder if I could think of anything else than him._

Conan kicked a stone away and pushed up his glasses. He was sick of wearing those, too. Now that he was back to the age where it had happened, Conan had to be triple as careful. The crows hadn't made a large impact on him anymore, they pretty much left him alone... however, Conan wasn't going to forgive nor forget.  
And still... after all those years, Conan left the crows more and more alone as the hope of returning to his actual age shrank. Instead, he became even more obsessed with KID and his disappearance.

Conan entered the café, lost in his thoughts, pushing his shawl a little higher to hide his red skin. He stood in line to order and couldn't even finish his trail of thoughts before the sweet barista girl asked him for his wishes.  
 _I want to see KID._  
"One black coffee and a piece of lemon pie, please."  
"Anything else?"  
 _Yes, I want to meet KID._  
"No, thanks."  
Shinichi paid and grabbed his coffee and food, then marched right out off the café. Absentmindly, he took a large sip of his coffee and had to hold himself back from gagging. No, he wasn't getting it down. No chance.

Conan fled behind a few containers to drool the coffee out again and wipe his mouth with a disgusted expression. What was wrong with him? It couldn't have been the coffee, this café made the best coffee around.  
Disappointed, Conan took out his piece of lemon pie and took a fork to enjoy it in peace- yet it tasted the same, disgusting and refusing to go past his tongue. Conan let out a frustrated whine and tossed each into the nearby trash container before he stormed out of the alley, hands pushed into his pockets. His mood had become ten times worse by now.

_Why am I not enjoying my favorite drink and my favorite pie?!_

His gaze fell onto his hidden hands and he stopped for a moment, evaluating his options. He felt like this since yesterday night, since the gem, since the blood.  
Conan shook himself as memories flooded his inner eyes and had to hold back from gagging again. Gross. But it did seem to have an effect onto him since he hadn't been thirsty nor hungry the entire day.

_Maybe Haibara can find anything._

Decision made, Conan switched destinations and instead walked towards professor Agasa's house. It was good the young scientist had stayed with the professor, since his death she had been a good landlord of his house and kept up her work as scientist.  
Conan rang the doorbell, only to be greeted by the familiar tea blonde wearing a lab coat. She seemed surprised, then raised her eyebrows.  
"You used to disguise better."  
"Oh shut up. I'm trying to cover my skin."  
"So?"  
Haibara pinched the bridge of her nose, sighing, stepping aside to let Conan pass. She honestly didn't want to know what kind of trouble her favorite neighbor had gotten into this time. Was there any day Conan didn't cause another death or criminal case?

Minutes later inside her laboratory, Haibara stared with widened eyes at her friend while he undressed- Conan looked like he was facing a third degree sunburn, yet his skin looked pretty much fine and he wasn't experiencing pain either. Haibara stayed silent for a while, eying him from head to toe. A few spots had stayed clear of the disturbing tone.  
"Shinichi, I do not want to ask but I'll do it anyway. What the heck have you done?"  
Conan sighed and drove a hand through his hair, a defeated look on his face. Haibara wasn't going to be pleased by the latest events at all.


	5. Keep it

Haibara stared at her friend, eyes wide, unable to say a tone. She had to digest this. Conan stared back at her, expecting an answer to his problems. Oh the innocence... he had no idea. Absolutely no idea.

_It makes sense. It all makes sense._

Haibara swallowed and turned away to shuffle busily in her files, just to be able to avoid the eye contact to her fellow detective. She had to win time.

_How am I going to tell him?_

"I need to brood a little over this. I'll call you when I have an idea..."  
Disappointed, Conan gave her a tiny nod and raised himself from the cushioned couch. He knew better than to disturb the woman when she was after a scientific mystery.  
"Thanks. See you, Haibara."  
"Leave the gem here, please."  
Conan froze, eyes slipping downwards to his pocket. He hesitated a long time, fighting with himself, hand reaching down to pet the gem in his pocket. It reassured him a little.

_Leave the gem here...? I... I don't want to. I don't want to. I want to keep it. I need to keep it._

"No."  
Haibara paused, silence spreading over these two. Conan repeated himself, more confidence in his voice than the first time.  
"No. I won't."  
Haibara didn't answer anymore and Conan chose to leave to avoid any drama.

_He doesn't want to leave the gem here...?_

The woman took a deep shaking breath, eyes finally pried away from her files. It made sense. It all made sense, all of a sudden. Kaitou KID made sense to her, his motives, how the gem had turned out to be a half, Conan's sudden symptoms, his unwillingness to part from his half gem-  
Haibara sat down, thoroughly exhausted and worn. For the first time, she didn't have any idea what to do. She honestly doubted that Shinichi would allow her to examine his gem. Why did KID even give it to him? Anger began to bubble up inside Haibara, she slammed her fist down onto her table, causing the cup of tea to jump and spill all over the ground.  
"Why KID...?!"  
Tears began to prinkle within her eyes. KID must have known, there wasn't any other solution. Her gaze fell onto the mess she had created and with a deep sigh, she marched into the kitchen to fetch a few napkins to clean up.

_Pandora._

Pandora's secret, KID must have known it. It all made sense. The magician had been created to find and destroy Pandora... KID's sole purpose hadn't been mockery, even if she had doubted that at the beginning; it had been the search and destruction of Pandora.  
Haibara sighed again and plopped down onto her chair, spinning slightly in it. After hearing Conan's story, she seriously doubted he hadn't gained most of Pandora's abilities. The loss of appetite, the inability to eat or drink anything, the energy burst... Swallowing, Haibara's eyes fell back onto her gathered notes. She would only know for sure if she attempted to kill her friend and neighbor but no way in hell was she going to try that.  
"If he doesn't sleep today either..."  
Chewing on her lip, Haibara tried to organize her thoughts. Something was amiss here, Conan couldn't have been entirely corrupted by Pandora. Wasn't it going to secure that Conan could live on with his real age? Shinichi was twentyseven, Conan seventeen. Or was Conan too much Conan? Was that now more of his personality than Shinichi? Ah, this was too much for her at once.

_Above all, two things are for sure. Shinichi has been influenced by Pandora... and KID has the other half._

Conan entered his house with mixed feelings. Haibara had looked so hollow and terrified for a split of a second... there was more to the story than she wanted to tell him. The detective scrunched up his nose and huffed.  
"Who does she think she is to be able to hide something like that from me?"  
He paused, then shook his head. Maybe she really had a good reason... he wasn't going to judge his friend ahead. After all, Conan wouldn't be at this point without her, someone who understood him and was in the same situation.  
Maybe he wasn't hungry now... but what else could he do to spend his time? Conan took a helpless glance around, then finally just pulled out his phone and dialed the number of Megure-keibu. Perhaps the keibu had a new case for him to solve.

***

_This feels strange... certainly strange..._

Kaito gripped the gem in his hand, tight, not daring to soften his muscles any bit. This was certainly unusual for the retired phantom- KID kept the gem mostly in a secret hideout he changed every single day to prevent anyone from finding Pandora on him. But now? Nothing had happened and yet he felt the overwhelming urge to keep the gem as close as possible, always in reach, on his body.

_This is ridiculous. If the Black Organization ever locates me and tries to steal the gem from me... I'd be screwed._

Kaito paused. He honestly doubted Pandora had its full effects split in a half. A breath of relief came past his lips and he shook his head, dismissing his concerns.

_Meitantei has the other half. Did you find it? Are you protecting it?_

Chuckling, Kaito let a pack of ice cream slip into his bag, then let his gaze wander to find any other items he might have liked to buy, one hand always fiddling with Pandora. The small urge to go back to Japan was there... however, Kaito just did it off as homesick. He hadn't seen any of his friends nor enemies since he had retired as KID...

_I didn't even speak with Meitantei... but I doubt he would have let me say any word before kicking one of those hellish balls at me._

Kaito's smile faltered. Aoko hadn't contacted him since he had opened up to her. He hadn't see Hakuba Saguru either... Maybe he went back to Britain, Kaito thought he had seen an article like this.  
By now, he honestly started to feel lonely. The magician who had been surrounded by friends the entire time was no more. Maybe...  
Pausing, Kaito's hand hovered above a box of cereal.

_Maybe Chat Noir.... But we honestly never had really much to do..._

Sighing, the magician tossed the box into his bag. He had to stop thinking about this and plan ahead for the upcoming show.


	6. Overwhelming Energy, Poor Magician

Kaito was used to a lack of sleep since he had begun to work as Kaitou KID, however by now, things had taken a different turn. Had they? Kaito had never put much thought into it. He was still a magician and just as famous as Kaitou KID used to be, maybe even more famous. But if he needed to compare his life as Kaitou KID to the one he was living by now, he didn't find too many differences. So much had changed and in a way, nothing at all. What was the point in continuing to live this all too familiar life?

Waking up from a particular good nap, Kaito was greeted by pure darkness. Was was going on here? A little nervous, Kaito tried to move his limbs but his body didn't obey him, his entire body was numb, tingling- it scared the magician a little.

_I'm done for. The Crows. I've been captured. They probably restrained me and are going to torture me._

A wave of panic overcame Kaito. Where was Pandora? Had it been taken? He only remembered falling exhaustedly into his bed the past evening. Struggling, Kaito tried to free himself, his entire body burning under whatever surface he had been trapped. This felt oddly familiar... But Kaito was blind, he couldn't see a thing in front of him. Finally, his muscles obeyed- Kaito managed to wriggle himself free and sat slowly up, trying to remove whatever was covering his entire face. Another wave of panic overcame him as he tried to eavesdrop if anyone was with him inside the room. He had to form an escape plan. Done was his career as a magician, Kaito had to dive into the masses, take on a new identity-

Gloved fingers pried the rough and gross substance off of his eyes and Kaito blinked a few times, then shook his head. Sunlight pooled in through a very familiar window... a hotel room.

His hotel room.

Almost on cue, the panic began to die out. Kaito felt for Pandora as it hit him-  
"...the moon-!" was all he could utter before he started coughing, face twisting into a grimace. His mouth was dry and had an awful taste; Kaito moved his tongue a little around to ease it up. His eyes fell onto his body as another shock drove into him.

_Blood-?!_

Kaito wanted to cry, he felt like an idiot. How could he have been naive enough to sleep with Pandora?! He was covered in dried blood-  
"Shit! A-am I-?!"  
Kaito bolted out of the bed into the bathroom, crying out when he saw his reflection. He was a monster. A humanic looking skull covered in dried blood with a few puddles of greasy hair sticking out left and right. And his eyes...!  
Kaito had to turn away to keep the contents of his stomach down, eyes automatically going towards the shower. This was definitely necessary and Kaito was one hell of sure he was going to take his goddamn time.

The effect he had feared so much had taken its toll- his entire body was crimson red. Kaito took a deep shaking breath as he glared himself down, finally rid of all the blood on him. Even his eyes had taken on a tiny hint of red. At least he looked like a decent human being again... aside the fake third degree burn he could see covering him.  
Pandora sparkled innocently inside the shower, fallen from his body after twenty minutes had passed. Kaito screamed in frustration, snatched the gem back into his hands and shut himself up only a few seconds afterwards, trying to pull himself together. Fingers moved and fiddled with each other, Kaito couldn't keep still. The sudden burst of energy he had been feeling was close to unbearable- he wanted to do so much at once, do a somersault out of a window for example-

_No, first I need to clean up. Oh my god the bed must look horrible-_

Nearly collapsing at the bed's condition, Kaito began pulling the sheets off, only to discover that Pandora had coloured the entire mattress He had to replace it and hide the original, just how? What could explain any of this mess? Kaito pulled the stubborn mattress off, panting a little. Adrenaline shot through his body, the magician began to chew on his lip as he searched for a way to keep himself together. This was new, entirely different than his usual bubbliness. He could hear his heartbeat ringing in his ears, clouding any sense he could muster up, followed by an incredible panic over the loss of control. Colours began to swim in front of his eyes, he could feel every single cell pulsing in his body- Kaito gripped his hair in sheer horror, hyperventilating.

_The heck is wrong with me?! I'm so full of energy- I-I can't concentrate, I-I-_

***

When Kaito came back to his senses, he laid flat inside a dumpster of the hotel. The first thing he noticed was the despicable smell tickling his nostrils, forcing him to realize his current location. Sparing a glance upwards, Kaito swallowed down the lump in his throat.

_Did I... jump from there...?_

Touching his forehead, a quiet groan of discomfort came past his lips. His heart was still beating clear and powrful inside his chest. His window was certainly open- maybe even broken. What the heck had gotten into him? Did he seriously break through a shut window to fall down out of the 19th floor?

_How the heck... did I survive that?_

Kaito stilled and his mind began to work, cogs turned inside his brain until the next question unsettled him. Where was Pandora?! Panicking eyes searched for the gem and discovered it only a centimeter next to his body- though that didn't quite make his situation less bad since it revealed a new problem for the usual all composed magician.

Kaito was still butt naked.


	7. Lazy and Busy

Sneaking back into his hotel apartement was quite a hassle for the magician, he didn't mind the effort but it would have definitely been less of an embarassment if he would have had any clothes to cover his private parts. Oh well... This was nothing less like his usual KID heists, just... less pompous and glorious. Kaito sighed; this wasn't going to become any remotely good day.

_Only I can have so much luck._

But Kaito knew he could await the chains of unluck holding him down if they allowed him to fly during his childhood- as Kaito and as KID. Oh Nakamori-keibu... if he would have only ever known... so far he had always cursed KID out for his numerous wins against the police. Maybe things would have taken a different turn, maybe Nakamori-keibu would have had accepted this part of his family, too.

_I wonder... would you abandon me yourself if I would have ever revealed myself to you?_

Kaito crawled as silently as possible out of the dumpster, Pandora in his mouth. He wasn't going to make any noise, thus wouldn't exactly need his mouth. Where to go next? He didn't have any of his convenient gear with him, thus the air vent wouldn't be an option and crawling 19 floors up was close to lunacy. Kaito inwardly snickered at this. Of course Kaitou KID was lunatic enough to pull off such a stunt but he wasn't KID anymore, he was Kuroba Kaito.  
Yet much to his surprised it had been a piece of cake to sneak naked into the hotel. Kaito had broken the lock into the employee area inside the lobby and hid in one of the stored suitcases which would have beem driven up at any second, then simply waited. An innocent male came along to pull the carriage with Kaito hidden inside the luggage out and into the upper floors.  
Kaito secretly counted with the elevator, then cursed inwardly as he noticed they were going one floor higher. Not a problem, Kaito told himself, and kept on waiting.

Soon enough he had been put down into an apartment and waited until the door had fallen shut before he began to widen the hole he had made beforehand to get on air. The magician jumped free within a blink and darted out of the flat into the hallway and from there a floor lower to his apartment.  
Cluelessly standing in front of the lock, Kaito cursed his habit to seal any possible entries. For a minute he just stood there, feeling ridiculous in all his naked glory, before he marched back into the 20th floor to search the apartment he had left for anything to help him fix the lock.

About ten minutes later, Kaito fell with a groan onto the bed, nearly choking as Pandora shoved itself further into his mouth. He spat it into his sheets, exhaling relieved.

_Finally. Now... how to get rid of the matress?_

Kaito let out a muffled groan and shook his head. Housekeeping wasn't going to come before he ordered it... this could wait.  
The young magician snuggled into his comfy sheets and wanted to catch a brief nap after all those events... yet his body disobeyed him. Entirely filled with energy, Kaito wanted to throw something against the next wall. He wanted to be lazy! Instead he wasn't tired at all and didn't even have any vent to let it out on.  
Kaito's head shifted to be able to look at his arms. In all honesty, he could compare himself to a lobster. Maybe... he could experiment a little. A tiny grin, filled with mischief, came over his face.

_At least I was always better than Hakuba in chemistry._

***

Conan stared at the glistening gem inside his hands, illuminated by the silverish moonlight. Blood dribbled in a slow and steady rythm onto his face but Conan couldn't find himself to care the slightest bit. There wasn't anything this blood could do more to his body than it had already done. He had discovered a few clean spots, majority of them gathered on his back, and honestly thought about letting this weirdly intoxicating gem do its work and change his entire body.  
It wasn't going to damage him further anyway, else Haibara would have ripped the gem out of his hands.

It frustrated Conan to the core that he wasn't a single step further with his research. He had searched out famous magicians all over the world, read their biographies yet he honestly doubted Kaitou KID was going to continue the path as a magician. Conan came to a halt in his thoughts, a soft sigh of defeat passing his lips while his hand lowered slowly with the gem inside, allowing it to bleed instead all over his belly. He had gotten used to it by now, in fact, the feeling was a pretty satisfying one. Whatever this gem had done to him, Conan wasn't regretting it the slightest. No more food, no more water and he didn't feel tired without a single sip of black coffee. Any coffee.  
Conan felt like reborn, ready to do things humanity had never tried before.  
Megure-keibu had uttered his concern about every call Conan had been giving the Beikan police department every two to three hours about any new cases they had for him. It was refreshing to be able to concentrate for so long on the spot... yet without any doubts, Conan knew he would become tired of this condition soon enough.

_I hope Haibara finds out what's wrong with me... Or what this gem actually is._

Conan took a glance at the clock across his bed. Two in the morning.  
A yawn crossed his lips- the boy willed himself to get out of his bed and shamble downstairs to look into the files of the latest case Megure-keibu had been willing to hand towards him. Nothing spectacular... Conan sneered quietly and shook his head. Sometimes Megure-keibu acted like some kind of worried father towards him and, by all honesty, he wasn't too opposed of it.  
Explaining to him the reason behind his change of skincolour, however... that was an entirely different topic.


	8. Trying to find a Clue

Kaito slowly but surely began to feel uncomfortable inside his own four walls. He didn't have an exact residence to live in, especially because that made it difficult for the Crows to find him, but every hotel he had been living in with the earned money during his world tour never felt right.

Something inside him screamed at him to go back to Japan, but why? Kaito didn't want to go back and see anything from his old life, not that anything there would have been left for him. Aoko wasn't going to accept him back in her near, he wasn't going to push Nakamori on his old days further to the edge of his nerves and Hakuba was gone since long, back to Britain to continue his career inside Scotland Yard. He had no idea where Akako was- If Kaito thought about it, nobody had ever known where Akako lived. The only one who could have made his stay enjoyable was Kudo Shinichi but he wasn't going to visit him. Not after his last performance for him.  
Kaito eyed himself in his mirror, full of make up and fake skin to conceal his red body. A few inches of normal skin had been left for him, mainly on his back and private parts- his feet had still their normal colour, too.

_I did my very best for you to despise me, Meitantei. I hope you still do._

This was one of those many moments Kaito spent in front of a mirror, glancing over his body and trying to make out any spot of red he might have overseen. If public would have gotten hint of his skin condition, sleepless nights and bursts of energy, he would have been forced to go into hiding. The attention of the Crows was the last thing he had wanted, now that Pandora was in his hand.  
Kaito breathed out a deep and frustrated sigh. He was lonely. He couldn't even videochat with his mother because she would surely see past his disguise. Hand closing around his gem, Kaito tried to get rid of his thoughts by causing himself a bit of pain.  
Sadly it didn't work as well as he wanted it.

***

Haibara hadn't left her lab the last two days. Nothing and nobody could have brought her out of it. She sat in front of her laptop, empty eyes glacing towards the cup of green tea before he took a sip of it, letting the welcome liquid run down her throat.  
"Kudo..."  
She glanced at the clock and began to chew on her bottom lip. Almost night time.

_Are you still awake, Kudo?_

She breathed out a deep sigh and raised herself slowly. It was time to make the last preparations to go to bed. She didn't have the slightest idea of what she could do with the amount of time Shinichi had now.  
Her thoughts began to drift off while she dragged herself out of the laboratory and upstairs into her room. If Pandora was in fact real, what did this mean for other legends? What if there was more magic in this world, things she had never noticed or taken a glance at because she was a woman of science? Haibara swallowed that tiny sigh which wanted to leave her lips and just closed the door of the bathroom behind herself, ready to take a shower. A gaze into the mirror reminded her of Shinichi's utterly red body and a mix of guilt and frustration flooded her guts.

_Is there any day you don't dive into reckless situations?!_

She had to tell him. Haibara knew, she had to tell Shinichi about his condition, what he was about to face. A terrible fate, she could imagine years and years without growing older, watching his friends die on him, unable to see the sweet release of death coming over him... A fear tears began to roll down her cheeks. Disbelief sprawling out over her face, she lifted a hand to dip her index finger into one of the tears.

_Why am I crying? I'm not the one who has to suffer._

Haibara tsked and shushed herself down. Without another word, she crawled into her bed and shut off the lights. Wanting to sleep, her thoughts kept raging around inside her brain, forcing her to lay wide away on her sheets, listening to the unbearable loud ticking of her alarm clock.  
Why was she so scared? Why didn't she reach for her phone, scroll through her contacts and call her best friend? He had the right to know. Deep down, Haibara knew the answer. Being unable to return to his own body was already enough to crush most of Shinichi's life, now the message he wasn't going to age any further would make an entire mess out of him. Innocence? Perhaps that was, what she wanted to refrain from destroying. A tiny grumble rumbled inside her throat. Conan had seen dead bodies beyond any measurements, and she had the nerve to try and protect him? Technically, she was the older one, she had always taken some kind of sisterly role to him. Someone had to pull this guy out of the daily bullshit he got himself into whenever possible.  
Haibara opened her eyes to stare at the ceiling, trying to count sheeps to fall asleep, as a thought crossed her mind.

_Maybe I shouldn't only focus onto a solution. Maybe someone else already found it._

All this mess had begun with Kaitou KID and the garden of statues he had created for his Meitantei to bid his farewell. Unable to sleep now, Haibara sat up again and threw her morning robe over before she marched back downstairs, took her shoes on and left the house. Cold night air greeted her as she snuck over to the Kudo house, sincerely hoping not to be noticed by her friend.

_I'll inspect Shinichi's statue again... Maybe I'll find something._

All she knew for sure... she was definitely going to find KID, no matter what. Haibara had a bad feeling about all of this. What if KID had the same problem...?


	9. Inspections

Haibara shivered within the cold breezes outside, hugging herself as she made her way through Kudo's yard to go into his backyard. Shadows around her casted by trees and bushes made it easier for her to hide than she had first assumed. Quiet rustling within the leaves covered her every step while she rounded the house, careful to avoid any light coming from the windows.

_I wonder if Shinichi can see better in the dark, now that he has Pandora in his blood..._

As soon as a light close by shut down, she jumped out of reflex into the rows of flowers growing nearby and ducked herself to blend into her surroundings. Shinichi was more than awake. Inwardly, she cursed. How many nights had it been? Fifteen? Shinichi wasn't in need of sleep any longer and that made the brooding frustration inside Haibara only stronger. She honestly hoped there was any way for her to find a cure to him... But her hopes weren't high at all.

_I never found a cure for the previous poison either... How am I able to cure supposedly magic?_

Haibara waited for another minute until she decided to move further. It didn't last long until she reached the garden of statues and couldn't help but smile as she passed the statue of Agasa-hakase. That old man had really helped them a lot in the past until he had died of old age. Another wave of guilt hit her; both Shinichi and her had really strained the old man's nerves until his very last day. Though without him, they would have never come as far as they were today.  
KID's statues were greatly taken care of by her friend, that was obvious. Not one bit of moss or ivy covered the stone KID had carefully carved out of blocks, and the forget-me-nots had been watered and fertilized.

It was easy to find Shinichi's statue, it had a gigantic hole inside its chest. Haibara finally allowed herself to stand up again in front of it, then took her flashlight and began to examine the hole. Dried blood was visible inside, untouched by wind and weather, even if the rest had been washed off immediately within the rainstorm occuring last week. Shinichi hadn't even bothered to try and seal it, Haibara noted with surprise. Maybe the gem had kept him too fascinated to actually remember he had to close the hole again before anybody could have become suspicious.  
Haibara sighed. Sometimes she wanted to slap Shinichi on the back of this thick and stubborn head.

Much to her dismay, nothing was left on the statue she could have taken a closer look at. Eyes wandering towards the Kudo manor, another plan crossed her mind before she decided to toss it away again. All her efforts weren't worth a penny if Shinichi wasn't going to cooperate.

_If he would only part from this stupid gem...!_

Clenching her teeth, Haibara gathered her last bravery and marched around the house, skipping the last step towards the door. For a moment hesitation overcame the young woman until she finally raised her fist and hammered against the door, startling Conan out of his comfortable chair. Curious, Conan put his book down onto the table and raised himself. A visitor? At this time of the day? He wasn't particulary fond of opening the door at a time like this, Edogawa Conan was as much of a skilled detective as Kudo Shinichi was- the number of suspects he had put behind bars exceeded his own knowledge. It wasn't a rare occurence that he had been made a target by his enemies.  
Nevertheless, curiosity won over him and Conan took the steps towards his main door, peering through the doorspy to come face to face with a mad looking all too familiar scientist. Finally at ease, Conan opened the door and his mouth to greet her but was rudely cut off by Haibara's demands.  
"Enough of this. Hand over the gem, Shinichi."  
Puzzled, Conan met those fierce and stubborn eyes without any reaction, needing a moment to comprehend what his friend was actually asking for. A minute of unpleasant silence later, Conan let out a huff and shook his head.  
"No."  
Haibara's eyes softened up and desperation overcame her face, Conan took mild interest in her weird behavior. He hadn't seen her like this for months, maybe even years. What had riled her up so much that she came in the dead of the night for such a discussion?

"Look, Shinichi..." Haibara began, carefully choosing her next words- she was fully aware Conan had the power of just closing the door in front of her nose and be done with her talk. "This gem... It's name is Pandora. At least, that's the codename the Black Organization had been labelled it with."  
"Pandora?" the young male repeated with a slight bit of concern in his voice. Slowly but surely, he began to become worried. Haibara was acting pretty unnerved by this.  
"Shinichi... I have reason to belief that the gem has affected you with its powers. It... has been on the main list of targets to attend within the Black Organization."  
Haibara didn't like this but she had to reveal the truth in order to get Conan to cooperate. Her instinct told her he wasn't even going to put the stone out of his pocket or hand, proven to be true as said one fiddled with something and the tiniest hint of blue flashed up in the pale moonlight. Conan paled at the news yet his voice of reason calmed him in the next second. It wasn't so out of mind that this gem was something special... KID's goal must have been worth it for him to be moonlighting as a shiny white 'Shoot me' target.

And suddenly, it made sense.  
His lack of sleep.  
His inability to consume any nutrients.  
The energy burst he felt day by day.

Conan stared at his friend, pale faced. Haibara could see in his eyes that he had realized what this meant- Conan wasn't stupid and a nickname of Pandora gave quite a bit away about the gem's abilities.

"I... I'm immortal."


	10. Breaking Points

_I'm immortal._

Conan saw Haibara's mouth moving in front of him but he could no longer hear her words. Immortal? Conan couldn't believe this, didn't want to believe this and yet, he knew it was the explanation to his symptoms, even if an absurd one. But Kudo Shinichi had experienced a poison which had thrown him ten years back into the body of a child who wouldn't have been taken serious by anyone. He could hear Haibara's words ringing in his ears, over and over again, demanding him to give up what felt like a part of his own soul since the first moment he had touched it.

_Hand over the gem!!_

Everything inside Conan's body screamed at him to run but he couldn't budge a muscle. Frozen in shock, Conan just stared there, watched Haibara trying to shake him back into reality. Slowly, his eyes narrowed onto his crimson red hands and the boy swallowed automatically. Haibara's left hand was way too close, too close to Pandora.

"Shinichi!! Hand it over! I might be able to find a cure to this, hell, maybe its powers could even hold the answers to Apoptoxin 4869! Shinichi!"  
Haibara began to claw at the hand holding Pandora away from her; desperation screaming from her every action. Conan felt something snap in his brain and before he could recognize what was going on, he was running, his voice of reason screaming at him to turn back and comfort Haibara, to give her this stupid rock and find the end to the tunnel Conan had been wandering since so many years.  
But there was something else, something else which didn't want him to let Pandora out of his eyes. Conan couldn't explain this urge, this desire to have this gem so close to his body. Was it the gem's doing?

_Is Pandora... controlling me...?_

Wind howled around his head, bringing tears to his eyes, glasses discarded somewhere in his pocket. Conan didn't feel the cold around him, didn't think about Haibara's desperate attempts to hold him back as he had stormed off into the night, leaving the door wide open for everyone to enter and do as they pleased. Conan didn't care, couldn't care less. Pandora was important. Pandora had to be with him. Pandora clutched tight in his grip, Conan flashed a glance into the nearly empty streets down below. He wanted to do it, throw the gem away and end all his miserable suffering.  
Conan's eyes landed on the gem in his fist, clenched, held tight to protect it from any influence. His breath was fast, alarmingly fast by now, Conan was fighting against himself.

_Throw it away! Give it to Haibara! Just get rid of it! This stupid rock is the reason you lost the last bit of social contact you had!_

Conan gripped his hair, a soft whimper of distress passing his lips while he slowly sank onto his knees. This pull, this urge; he wanted to toss the gem away and yet he kept staring at this stupid thing, body frozen, muscles unmoving.

_I won't give Pandora to anyone. KID gave it to me. I won't hand it over. It's mine. KID wanted me to keep it. I need to keep it. I will keep it._

His thoughts went wild, spiraling about this only conclusion. The only right conclusion.  
Conan crawled a few inches further, head poking over the edge, carefully observing the crowd. This drove him insane. He had to know. Conan took a deep breath and squeezed his eyes shut, body tilting slowly forward.

What was left that he could actually loose?

***

Kaito shot up, panting, catching sight of his clock first. Long past midnight. A little confused, the young magician raised his hand to touch his face, unfocused eyes lasting upon his latest experiments. What had happened? Did he... fall asleep...? But that was impossible, Kaito hadn't slept since more than two weeks.

Rubbing his eyes, the male raised himself slowly out of his chair, musing over the latest event. No, it wasn't a dream, this felt way too real. Another gaze onto the clock, Kaito began to recover his braincells.

_Impossible... Only seven minutes passed. I couldn't have been asleep._

But what was that he had seen?

_A teenager sitting on all fours on a roof, skin as red as blood itself. He had been smiling as he tilted forward and fell into his death._

Kaito shook his head and sighed, the urge to go to Japan stronger than before. It was just stupid, overall stupid. There was nothing he could have wanted in his home country.  
And yet, with the image fresh and bloody in his mind, Kaito couldn't have been more confused than right now.  
"What games are you playing with me?" he grumbled, giving Pandora a gentle squeze. In the same moment, he snorted and shook his head. Kaito was talking to a stone.

A feeling of nervousity overcame him the longer he thought about the picture he had seen in front of his inner eye. Why would he even think about this?  
It went far enough for Kaito to take on his shoes, grab a shawl and take on a coat- he would have loved to see Hakuba's face if he had known Kaito had become quite enarmored with trenchcoats. Those things hid any disguise underneath, provided lots of room for his hidden tricks and he wasn't sticking out like a sore thumb in public.  
Kaito headed out of the hotel with fast steps, first relaxing when he could breathe fresh air and felt Pandora in his warm hands. The stone was almost comforting him like this, and Kaito couldn't help but wonder. For a good deal, he could excuse his attachment to an object like this one, but this excuse wasn't going to work forever. Kaito had used to hide the gem far away from himself and close at the same time, at places nobody would suspect it to be-  
And now here he was, carrying that hellish magic tool with him.

Kaito sighed, and decided to take a regular walk instead of staying in front of the hotel like a moron. He needed to clear his head and the night was pretty good for this occasion.

_I can't believe I'd ever get this far... But I wish Akako would be here and get some light into my situation._


	11. The walls Are Coming Closer

Haibara stared down at the coffin displayed with dull eyes, disbelieving. She had been wrong, so wrong, entirely wrong. Edogawa Conan had died in the same night she had wanted to force Pandora off of him; how could she have had any idea that Conan was going to throw himself off of a building?  
For a victim of a fall from a roof countless levels above the ground, Conan looked quite well. She had made sure to push his irrational skin condition onto the fall- nobody cared at this point anymore. The young scientist sighed, clenching her hand around the mysterious diamond Conan hadn't left out of his eyes only one minute.

She wanted to take the gem with her but in all honesty, what did it help? Conan was gone, confirmed by the hospital, cold and never going to be alive again. Haibara wasn't a need to cure whatever had possessed her best friend... as he was no longer there.  
Tears prinkled in the corner of her eyes while she gave her last farewell. Haibara allowed herself a tiny glance around, eying the group of people who had come to honor Edogawa Conan a last time. Much to her surprise, even Mouri Kogoro had attended the funeral of the boy he had raised for years under his roof.

_Shinichi never knew how much this old man actually cared for Conan..._

Taking a deep breath, Haibara squeezed her eyes shut and allowed one tiny tear out of thousands of suppressed ones to slip out, landing on Conan's cheek. Hattori Heiji had come from Osaka for this occasion, clenched fists and bloody lip making it obvious how hard he tried not to break out in violent tears. Kazuha clung to his arm, bawling into his chest, and the Detective Boys had come, too. Even people like the main FBI group Conan had used to work with, even Black's CIA group had come to attend. No one, absolutely no one, couldn't grieve over the loss of the child with scarily accurate deductions skills.

Haibara clenched her fingers around the warm and pulsing gem inside her hand. No, she couldn't take Pandora with her, even if she had wanted to. And where on this entire cursed planet could it have been safer?  
Haibara slipped the stone unsuspiciously into Conan's pocket, then turned around and made her way silently back to the Shounen Tantei who made place for her to give a few last words.  
"...I've lost a neighbor... a friend... a brother. Edogawa Conan... We will never forget you," she said in a monotonous voice, suppressing every bit of emotion inside her. No, Haibara didn't want to cry... not in front of the children.

Not at the funeral of her best friend.

***

_A teenager, sweat trickling down his bruised and battern body, panic flaring in his veins, calling out for help with a hoarse voice, hands bloody of attempts to break out of his cage, darkness surrounding him..._

Kaito shot up with a scream of fear, panic in his bones. For a moment he just sat there, trembling, remembering himself where he was and what had happened.  
The backstage area.  
About to perform in front of thousands of people.  
Absentminedly, his hand searched for Pandora inside his pocket. Feeling its warm and familiar surface did a great deal of calming the famous magician.

_Again such a daydream... Am I going insane? Am I hallucinating?_

The door was slammed open and a breathless staff member stormed the room, looking around to face whatever had upsetted the magician.  
"Kuroba-san?!"  
Both parties froze on the spot, eying each other, one with caution and one with concern. Kaito shook his head, setting up a gentle smile to ease the situation. His pokerface was being tested.  
"I'm alright. Don't worry. I just got a little startled."  
The staff member retreated after another wordless gaze filled with concern, and Kaito breathed out a deep and troubled sigh, gaze wandering to his hands. His magic show was about to begin and his hands shook like crazy.  
What had he been doing anyway before the daydream? Hallucination? Whatever it was called, it disturbed the concentration of the young male and was incredibly awful to witness.

Sighing, Kaito slipped Pandora into his pocket again after cradling it possessively inside his hands and left his private backstage area to head onstage. His heartbeat began to slow down as he faced the blinding lights and cheers of people waiting to be intoxicated by him.  
Kaito smirked and took a deep bow before he opened his arms in an elegant move, earning roaring applause of the crowd before him. Tonight was going to be his night, and Kaito wasn't going to let this be ruined by anything.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!"

***

Conan finally froze after the moment had passed, panicking heartbeat ringing in his ears. His muscles stilled, trembling and bloodied hands slowly sinking back down left and right to his body, gripping his pocket where he could clearly feel the outlines of Pandora.

_I can barely move... I can barely breathe... I can't see and there is nothing but silence..._

Conan couldn't hear a single tone from his prison. Nothing, absolutely nothing. No animals, no people... Nothing. Swallowing the lump inside his throat, Conan tried to push the lid again, more softly than before, realization dawning upon him together with the latest events he could remember.

_...I... I'm laying inside a coffin... buried... underground..._

Another swell of panic rose and Conan took difficult yet deep breaths to calm down again. He couldn't need another panic attack now. First of all-

Conan flinched involuntarily, blinded by the sudden light shining directly into his eyes and the roar of a cheering crowd in front of him. A stage, decorated with nothing, but clearly the act was a person itself. A gloved white hand made an exaggerated move in front of him and he heard those words he had sworn not to forget the moment he had heard them. The voice was familiar, so goddamn familiar.

_LADIES AND GENTLEMEN~!_


	12. The Additional Ray of Sunshine

Boredom was Conan's daily company. The young detective couldn't even remember how much time had passed inside his prison, his feeling of time was completely gone. His hope had been starting to crumble bit by bit a while ago.

_What day is it? How long have I been unconcious? How could they just... bury me...?_

Conan shook his head gently, a shiver running down his back. Was this going to be his fate? Locked up inside a cushioned coffin, six feet underground, no chance of help?  
It had been even worse the first day as the oxygen inside his tiny cell had gone to waste. Breathing had become difficult, Conan had felt his head spinning and his heart was hammering inside his chest, protesting against the lack of oxygen for him to consume. It was an awful feeling, at the edge of suffocation and still no chance to escape this situation. For a moment, Conan wasn't even sure if he had actually passed out and yet it didn't make sense to him that he had woken up once again.

_Am I even in need of oxygen like this...?_

Obviously not, since even if he would know how much time had passed up until now, it was more than enough for him to suffocate inside his prison. He could breathe, Conan had tried it, but was there even any oxygen coming into his lungs? Tears began to prinkle within his eyes as Conan stared up into the darkness, knowing fully well that only centimeters above him was a heavy wooden cover, imprisoning him in here.

Suddenly, again a ray of sunshine hit him and Conan squeezed his eyes shut, whimpering in pain. He had become accustomed to the darkness around him, those moments where he could actually see light in front of his inner eye only happened whenever one of these daydreams occured. He had titled those hallucinations like that, because something with them was entirely different than any case of mental issues Conan had ever seen in his entire career. Conan was able to see the first perspective of a person, presumeably male. A showman, he had noticed during his first time.

Conan guessed it had always been the same person, since whenever he had seen him, white gloves were the first thing he could make out as soon as his blinded eyes had stopped burning. It was a pain in the ass every single time but Conan started to become accustomed to the visions about a mysterious man and his daily life. It was something new, something he could nearly claim as entertainment... because what else was he supposed to do? He hadn't had much choice left over than to meditate and play with Pandora inside his pocket while brooding over another plan to get out of this admittedly stupid situation.  
Conan smiled fondly as the man performed a small magic trick for a small crowd of children surrounding him. Obviously, his object of interest had taken a walk within a park; Conan could see trees and even the tiniest blue spot a bit further away indicating the outlines of a small lake.

_Seems peaceful there... I wonder how long it has been since I took a walk inside a park... or played soccer..._

Conan breathed out an involuntary sigh and reminded himself that it was not the time to grieve about missed opportunities. Curious, he decided instead to try and decipher the magic tricks this individual had been practising for his small group of fans, yet found himself distracted each and every time by the applause and sparkling eyes of children all around him. His chest became warm at the admiring expressions... even if it wasn't him who was brightening these kids' days, he did feel a beam of pride watching them enjoying this small show.

Sooner than Conan would have liked it, his vision turned pitch black again and he let out a soft groan, fond smile vanishing off of his face like it had never existed. Gone was the welcome distraction, gone was the sun, gone was the warmth that had pooled into his stomach. Fingers searching for Pandora, he soon found it again and cradled it possessively, closing his eyes as he tried to repicture the scenery in front of him. Maybe like that, he could enjoy his small moments in the sun a bit longer.

***

Kaito had trouble prying himself away from his crowd of cheering fans, moreover because he had missed the small shows he used to do within his classroom. It was so familiar to him, all those amazed people around him, it was so different than the huge shows he had been doing after his graduation.

Kaito shuddered, Pandora pulsing warm and gentle against his chest, hidden away in his pocket. He nearly messed up his next trick, but managed to save himself in the last second. Maybe it was time to call it a day.

_Something's coming... I can literally feel that... I have to get out of here._

Kaito quickly bid his farewell and scurries into the depths of the park. His heart began to beat faster, Pandora became bit by bit warmer within his pocket. With a chased expression, Kaito turned his head to find a spot where he could hide. He stumbled over into a few bushes and fell face first onto the ground, barely making it in time before his vision turned pitch black.

All noise was gone. He could no longer feel the warmth radiating from the sun, he could no longer hear the birds chirping around him, he could no longer admire the pretty scenery around him. Kaito didn't even hear his own breath. The one he was hearing was calm, slow, barely there and yet so achingly obvious close to him. Panic began to overcome Kaito while he clenched his fists, trying to endure it.  
There was nothing.  
Kaito felt like floating in middle of nothingness, consumed by darkness and unable to free himself from those clutches. Something began to pulse in his pocket and soon enough, he saw a glowing gem lifted by a hand and slowly brought closer to his face.

Kaito's eyes grew wide, and with a gasp he shot up from the ground, back inside the park and laying in middle of a few last piles of snow. His body trembled, Kaito couldn't breathe for a few seconds. Shock overran him and only one thought kept ringing in his ears while he felt for his own gemstone.

_Pandora. Pandora is here._


	13. Reflections

Kaito stared at his own reflection inside the mirror of his backstage area, patiently applying a latex patch onto his face, one among many others. He was getting ready for another show and tried to cover up his red skin as best as he could.

Kaito was tense, so tense.

Neither the forecasted applause nor the huge audience which had gathered for him did any remotely good job of cheering him up. The young magician had become jumpy... not only because of the incredible amount of energy he had been feeling since the incident, but because of the strange moments which had begun to appear more and more frequent. Kaito expected any second another episode of darkness washing over him and burying him within the sound- and visionless nightmare he had to endure.

_I don't get it. I don't get it at all._

For a moment, the magician paused and stared at himself inside the mirror, fingers finished smoothing out the last patch to cover his face.

_Is that actually me? Is that still Kuroba Kaito?_

Kaito had to turn away from his image after the necessary last check of his disguise. Disguising as himself was another level of weird for him, he had never before sat down in front of a mirror and worked on a mask of Kuroba Kaito. He had never even considered that this could happen to him. His thoughts began to swirl while the magician began to put on his suit.

_What if I would have gotten seriously injured in my Kaitou KID years? While I was in school? What if I would have lost an eye? A limb? I can't believe I used to be so naive, so inconsiderate. One single bad injury would have been enough to tarnish KID's cape and set a good trail for Hakuba to follow. What if I would have died? Nothing would have been able to stop the Crows from obtaining Pandora and robbing more and more children of their parents._

Kaito slammed his fist against the wall, next to a poster of himself on stage. He used to be so damn naive.

_Not anymore. Never again._

Sweat began to trickle down his nape and the magician fell exhaustedly down onto the cushioned couch brought just for him., raking a hand through his messy brown hair. He would never be naive again, for the sake of Pandora.  
"Pandora..." he whispered, freezing and slowly retracting his hand. Would he need to find a heir? Someone to continue protecting Pandora? Kaito's stomach churned at the imagination of having another person burned with the heritage of his family.

_I don't even know anymore what I actually want. I don't even know if I should pray for my immortality to be real, or if I should pray for a relieving death to see Tou-san again._

If he was actually immortal now thanks to his half of Pandora, how long was he going to live on this godforsaken planet? Kaito was going to witness future wars, his loved ones dying all around him, making friends was going to become a hassle to him because he couldn't keep them anyway. Decades would go by without any physical change on him, he would have to take on identity after identity and live a full life before he had to create a new one.  
A tiny sob escaped Kaito's mouth and he squeezed his eyes shut, trying not to panic. This was a lot for someone his age. Kaito was in his midtwenties... Others his age thought about founding a family and he was driving himself insane because of immortality.

_...Am I still able to reproduce? Can immortality be passed on?_

Kaito pursed his lips and shook his head, wanting to cut his thoughts short. Brooding about this wasn't going to make it better either. With a last glance around his room to analyze its set up, Kaito trotted out of the entrance and towards the stage he was going to perform on. It had become a habit to him, occasionally a fan would manage to sneak into his backstage area and go through his things to find anything personal of him to either keep or sell. The first time that had happened to him, a near heart attack struck him while he searched for Pandora, only to find it where it had been the entire time.

On stage, Kaito set up his mischievous grin and welcomed the audience with a flashy entrance yet that smile quickly vanished. Pandora began to pulse in his pocket, more and more, Kaito was grimacing as he felt blood running down his leg. Pandora was bleeding again.

_Pokerface. It's over soon._

Kaito did feel that small beam of pride at his showman expression slammed onto his face, ridding it of all evidence that anything could have been wrong. But his heartbeat began to increase, his hands startled to tremble and in the same second, the young magician realized what was about to happen, what was going on.  
A vision. Another vision, right here, right now.  
Kaito wanted to scream in frustration as he felt a large shiver running down his spine. He hated Pandora for this, he hated it with all his power for causing this to him.

Kaito tried to proceed as his eyesight turned pitch black, dying out together with any kind of sound. Silence, eery silence, and the calm breath of a person just so close to him. Trembling like a leaf, Kaito tried to move and suppress the loss of control, but it was no use. He couldn't move nor scream for help, and it felt like hours trapped in this nightmare. Kaito didn't even know how long he had been enduring this, but it was way longer than usual.

_Stop... Make it stop... Make it stop..._

The silence finally moved for a tiny voice, far away, and the feeling of floating made place for a soft and cushioned surface underneath him.  
"He seems stable."  
"Panic attack?"  
"Likely."  
Kaito pried his eyes open to be greeted by paramedics, laying inside an ambulance transport. Before Kaito even opened his mouth, the male in front of him gasped and looked deep into his eyes.  
"Sir? Stay with me! You'll be at the hospital soon. You need to stay with me now."

A deep frown covered Kaito's face while he tried to sit up and explain it had been only a major panic attack, yet was pushed back down without mercy. His facial expression switched into fear as he caught a glympse of his arms he had had covered beforehand.

Deep crimson red.

_...did they... did they remove the latex disguise...?_


	14. You and I, One and the Same

Conan stared at the hospital ceiling with wide and shocked eyes, he needed a moment to progress this all too familiar view.

_Is he inside a hospital? Oh god I hope he is alright._

Conan hoped for him to turn his head so he could at least make out other details of the room, yet the male remained still. He breathed out a worried sigh and narrowed his eyebrows, musing about any injury he could have. A car accident?  
Lately, he had felt himself growing attached to this stranger whose life he could see through his eyes. Conan couldn't help but find himself grow more and more curious of the man's life. Who was he? Conan hadn't even got to know his name.

All thoughts went poof as the stranger lifted his arm and glared at it with a passion Conan couldn't quite understand. What was with his arm? It didn't look injured, nor paralyzed.

_...red._

Conan's eyes shot open wide as it finally hit him. The man's skin was red, at least his arm. Was this the reason he had constantly been covered up at every visible spot on him? Conan's heart skipped a beat of excitement. This man was most likely a victim just like him, influenced by Pandora.

_But why should he have Pandora? Unless..._

Paling an instant, Conan swallowed down a lump inside his throat. This lonely stranger whose life he came to enjoy as welcome workout for his brain was most likely no one else than Kaitou KID. A magician, a showman, someone who would go out of his way to put on a show for children inside a park just to brighten their days without expecting any money in return.

_Unless KID chose a second person to protect the other half of Pandora... But why should he? KID would never do that._

Tears began to prinkle within Conan's eyes as his vision turned black and the boy quickly pulled out his half. The glim had become stronger and blood oozed out of the stone, making it obvious it was close to full moon again. How long had he been here? At least KID was making his time here easier. Was he immortal now, too?  
Conan bit down onto his lip until it started bleeding. He had figured if he could see through the stranger's eyes, it would be only plausible if he could see through his. That KID was this person made things only more interesting.  
The detective almost felt guilty, his own eyesight must have tortured the KID for a long time. Suddenly having your vision turning pitch black and being imprisoned by a soundless dark nightmare must have taken a toll on the man.

Conan could only hope that KID would follow his visions and find him. Pandora was now clutched within his hands and clearly visible to him. A tiny smile hushed over his lips, at some point KID would see through him again and could see Pandora's second half with him. KID was going to search for him and find him, Conan just knew that. It wasn't in the thief's nature to leave such a mystery unsolved.

At least that was his hope.

***

Kaito glared at his arm with narrowed eyebrows. Clear and out in the open, crimson red. He swallowed and flashed a glance at the door. The nurse had left a few minutes ago and he knew, they wanted to do hundreds of tests on him to find out what was wrong. Kaito let his arm disappear under the blanket and fiddle with Pandora. It had become less intense, as it was broad daylight. But if the hospital staff finds Pandora on him...

Kaito didn't even want to think about it. Sure enough, the Crows had to be part of the hospitals, too. It wouldn't make sense elseway. If he, a person with an unique skin condition, would be held here they would become suspicious. Kaito sighed and slipped as quiet as possible out of his bed to dress in his former clothes, making sure to cover up as much of his body as he was able to.  
It would be a good practice to sneak out, just out of the window and he would be gone. Kaito flashed a last glance at the door to make sure no one was going to come in, then quickly opened the window and crawled onto the window sill. Would he survive that fall? This was the ultimate test of his immortality. On the other hand, he had survived a fall out of the 19th level with not even so much as a bruise.

Kaito took a deep breath, closed his eyes, then let himself fall. A shock of adrenaline rushed through his body before he hit the ground, grimacing at the amount of pain flaring up inside him. For a moment everything hurted and he clenched his teeth, trying to bear it, before he tried to get up. People haven't seen him- was this going to be okay?  
Kaito nearly collapsed again as he tried to get up, clinging onto the wall next to him for support. His leg was oddly twisted and he couldn't bear the view, trying to keep his stomach contents down, he turned to avoid looking at it.

Kaito limped alongside the wall, yet his feet became stronger and stronger. Eyes wide in amazement, Kaito watched as his leg grew bit by bit back into its former form, and by the time he reached the end of the alley, he was full on marching out of it. His heartbeat became faster, a feeling of fear and excitement at the same time bubbled up inside his stomach. The young magician wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. There was no chance he wasn't immortal now.  
What on earth would bring his future, now?

Not bothering to inform anybody, Kaito ran back towards his hotel and fell into his own bed with a weak and halfhearted laugh.  
"Oh god. I'm immortal. There's no doubt, I'm immortal. Oh fuck."  
Laughing, tears began to roll down his cheeks. He wouldn't ever see his father again in heaven, if it even existed. Never.


	15. Healing Abilities

Indigos gleamed as Kaito stared at the clock of his hotel room in utter confusion. Silence filled the room while the young magician sat up, groggily ruffling his hair in hopes it would look better after a long... yeah, what exactly was that?

Flipping on his phone, Kaito looked at the date. Nearly two days had passed without him even noticing it. It was almost like he had been asleep. But Kaito hadn't slept since months and was quite content without it, he had so much more extra time to spare for plotting his shows and next steps than ever before.

_Did I really sleep through an entire two nights and a day?_

Kaito couldn't quite believe it but he couldn't exactly recall any memories within this time either. Was there any reason for this? Had he been asleep or just unconcious? Fingers searching for his pulse, Kaito soon found it beating as crystal clear and strong as usual. In middle of testing, his eyes wandered through the room and finally landed on his leg. Kaito froze, an idea crossing his mind.

_It was broken... Twisted... I ran home... and fell into bed... Is a specific amount of sleep necessary to heal myself like this? A sort of... payment? If the injury is worse, would the amount of necessary sleep rise, too?_

This was certainly something new and a new wave of excitement bubbled up inside Kaito's stomach; this was worth some experiments. Not that the magician was keen on injuring himself... but Kaito would be stupid if he wouldn't explore his newly gained abilities by Pandora. After all, he was going to live with them for as long as he could think. Hundreds, thousands of years.

This time, the riddle of the second half of Pandora was long forgotten.

***

Conan gaped at what he saw. No, this hadn't been any kind of trickery, this was bloody real. Kaitou KID had stabbed himself into his leg and watched with glee the wound closing after the initial gush of blood had died out. The detective had to suppress the urge to gag while he was forced to watch KID hurting himself in all possible ways, accompanied by wails and cries of agony coming from him, each and every wound closing soon after again.

_This guy is nuts. Completely bonkers._

Conan furrowed angrily his eyebrows, oh god how much he wished to be able to scream that right into the stupid thief's face. Worry swept through his body in a steady stream and Conan let out a soft whimper.

_Will you stop?! Are you insane?! Why are you doing this?!_

Was Pandora healing KID?  
This question let his thoughts stop abruptly; Conan felt himself going lax as his vision blacked out again. Was this the same that had happened to him?  
Conan lifted his arm a tiny bit to stretch and twist it a little, easing the sore muscles of the constant laying. He could move his bones freely around and didn't exactly feel any kind of pain nor handicap after his intented fall off of a roof. Pandora must have healed him soon after. Left was, to explain why he hadn't woken up any earlier, maybe before they had decided to bury him. Conan breathed out a deep and troubled sigh, yet was somehow glad. Another riddle he could dive head over heels into, and that riddle was Pandora's magical abilites which he had gained.

_I wonder what made me fall into this coma. I doubt it was a simple sleep, I would have noticed people trying to wake me up... and it wouldn't make sense either considering they hadn't found a pulse on me._

Conan couldn't help that tiny bit of curiosity coming over him. Oh, how much he wished Haibara could experiment with him to find out more about his new abilities. It would have been a piece of cake for her, Conan was sure of that.  
Maybe KID's own experiments provided any answers he could possibly use to make up his own theory about Pandora.

Conan wrinkled his nose in disgust and shifted a bit, feeling the crusted blood of Pandora over his skin. The gem had started to bleed more and more, and Conan was pretty sure it wasn't closing in to full moon so soon again. Something else made Pandora react stronger than before and he wasn't exactly keen on finding out what it was. The hope was still there, together with the tiny alarming thought at the back of his brain, that if no one would find him ever again, Pandora would continue to fill the coffin more and more up until Conan would be trapped within a large cocoon of dried magicial blood. The young detective swallowed down a lump of nervousity as he imagined the turn his fate would take. Unable to move at all, breathe, make any kind of noise. Stuck like this, for eternity.

_There I prefer laying inside a coffin far more than also being covered in dried blood. I hope KID sees Pandora through my eyes and finds me._

It was a tiny pang against Conan's pride but he couldn't care less. In fact, the tiny thought that of all people, KID could be the one to dig up his coffin and release him from his prison let his heart skip a beat in excitement. Conan still mused over wether to greet the former phantom thief with a flying kick to his face or a properly aimed socker ball. Either way, they had much to talk about, and KID a lot to explain to him.  
Conan frowned and wiped the fond smile he had been carrying off of his lips within a blink, this was not a matter to be happy about. KID hadn't paid for his former crimes at all, and this time he had stolen a real gem. Though Conan played with the thought of letting it slip- he wasn't going to give his own half of Pandora up, either, which he had to do if he was going to report KID's return to the police.

Conan snorted and shook his head in thought. He wasn't that stupid. But he surely wouldn't miss the chance to kick him square into his chest for all the stuff he had caused for him.  
And maybe he would also thank him for all the favors and encounters, Conan wasn't so sure about that yet.


	16. Just Say Goodbye

Night after night, Kaito stared at the ceiling of hotel room after hotel room, unable to distract himself of the disturbingly growing urge.

_Go back. Go back._

It even affected his shows to the point of being unable to concentrate. But why? Why should he go back and risk being noticed by media and his favorite Meitantei in return? Kaito knew it was a huge risk but the urge grew, together with Pandora's bleeding.

_You need to go back. Go back. Go back._

Trembling, the man rolled onto his side in his bed and pulled out the glimming gem to stare into the calming reddish glow, it had become his source of warmth and comfort whenever Kaito felt upset. These visions were horrible enough and with each one, he urge to return to his home country became worse.

_Maybe just a weekend trip? I could take a break of my tour and visit my old favorite places. Just... just to be satisfied._

Kaito paused, then groaned and pulled out his tablet. There was no chance he could go back without planning everything out. He had to search on Edogawa Conan to find out wether he still lived in Beika. Most likely, he thought, if he didn't return to Kudo Shinichi he was still a minor.

Indigo eyes grew wide in horror at the first article that popped up on screen, illuminating the darkness around him.

_Impossible. This can't be true. No way. No. NO. NO!_

Kaito looked down at the boarding pass he had just received from a friendly woman behind a reception desk, luggage already beyond and gone towards his plane. Was he really going to do this? Give in to this ridiculously strong and absolutely senseless urge to go back to Japan? But Kaito had to, he had to.  
He had to say goodbye. Just say goodbye.

Kaito fell into deep thoughts while he took his sweet time reaching his gate, playing with Pandora inside his pocket. It had taken a good amount of work to hide the gem from security and thus, Kaito felt overall proud to have managed that. On the other hand, we was a retired phantom thief- it would be disappointing if he would have been caught.

_Maybe check on Nakamori-keibu, he hadn't been the same since I retired._

Frowning, the male shook his head in disapproval of his own idea. He wasn't going to visit Nakamori-keibu, because he sure as hell didn't want to be reminded of his old childhood love. Watching people around him pass by in a hurry, Kaito allowed himself just the tiniest attempt of a smile below his latex mask of Kuroba Kaito. Maybe it would do good to him just to breathe Japan's air again and wander a bit around Ekoda. He could just take on a disguise and the risk of him running into somebody he knew was close to zero. It could also be fun to mess with people again like he used to do as a teenager.  
More and more, Kaito began to look forward to this tiny adventure. He would rent a hotel room in Tokyo and enjoy his stay, maybe wander once through his old neighborhood in Ekoda and eat his favorite ice cream at his former favorite ice cream parlor.

Somehow, he had to distract himself from the true reason of his journey. A nauseous feeling settled into his gut while his thoughts drifted back to the article. This wasn't possible to him, it just couldn't have been true. Edogawa Conan wasn't dead, it wasn't possible.  
Tears had streamed down his cheeks at the large and black headline slammed into his face, Kaito remembered himself screaming and howling into the pillow in frustration and despair. Edogawa Conan had been something akin to a soulmate to him, someone who understood him and made him feel like himself even if he was wearing the mask of someone else.

Kaito took a deep shaking breath to remain calm. It wasn't good to loose his pokerface inside an airport. He just needed to end this entire story and say goodbye to his worthiest rival. Even using his real name, Kaito had decided it would be best to fly economy so he wouldn't arise any suspicions. He just blended as easy as ever into the mass while he told suspicious security staff he was travelling privately.  
It sounded like a good idea to sit down near his gate and just mind his own business, it was a good way to keep track of his thoughts and go over the recent events.

Important to him was the exact reason why he wanted to fly to Japan. The urge, the pull, the incredible feeling to go back had been there before he had seen the news of Edogawa Conan's death. What exactly was pulling him there? Kaito had enough of blaming his own homesickness, it had been fine all those years away from home and now all of a sudden it hit him? That was most unlikely.  
Another sigh of distress escaped the male while he buried his face deeper into his fluffy shawl. It had to be Pandora, but what exactly was it he had left in Japan?

_...Pandora's second half. I left it inside Kudo Shinichi. I kept it there. Does it want me to find it? Does Pandora want to be whole again or am I just getting overboard?_

Kaito was hesitant to believe and at the same time ignore his musings. After all, Pandora was everything but a lifeless stone to him, who knew its secret and powers. Pandora had started to bleed when it had been parted from his other half the next full moon.  
Frowning, the magician felt for his own half of the gem as usual. Did Pandora have the power to regenerate itself? Was its 'blood' a mere selfproduced glue to fix itself? Kaito knew just too well how bothersome this fluid was, he had accepted the fact since long that his skin wasn't going to return back to normal.

Kaito flinched out of his deep thoughts as the flight attendant announced them ready to board. Setting up a friendly smile, Kaito rose from his seat, still unable to quieten his own mind down. Slightly nauseous and uneasy, Kaito boarded the plane, clutching his small bag with various entertainment choices for himself to spend the time in his hands, throwing a last glance back to the airport.

_Just say goodbye and come back. Just say goodbye._


	17. Accept the Reality

Kaito stood at the cemetery with a heavy heart beating inside his ribcage. He couldn't bring himself to step through those gates and finish it once and for all. For a moment Kaito just stood there, looking stupid, restlessly fumbling with his gloved hands while his eyes kept being fixated onto the green grass on the other side of those iron bars building a fence.

Rain drops began to fall from the dark clouds above him and Kaito shivered, closing his eyes for a moment to enjoy the feeling of rain, taking a breather of the air around him, before he turned on his heel and sat down across of the cemetery on a bench. Slowly, more and more water poured from the sky down onto lively Tokyo, yet Kaito didn't budge. It felt nice to be soaked like this, in a way. With a hint of amusement, he eyed the passing people scrambling to get somewhere dry, holding up umbrellas and bags to cover themselves. He himself didn't see any reason why he should follow their example, he had left his phone inside his hotel and nothing valuable but Pandora occupied his pockets which could have been destroyed by the water.

For the first time since months, Kaito felt finally at peace. Here, inside Beika, sitting in front of the cemetery, so close to his Meitantei.

_I meant to leave you behind. Now look at me, lurking like an idiot in front of the cemetery, unable to go up to your grave and bid my last farewell._

Kaito wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. He had left this life behind for the sake of his own goal, and now he was nearly back where he had begun. Why did he want the attention his detective had always given him now? Years after they had parted?  
A deep and frustrated sigh left his lips and hands reached up to cover his face, fingers raking gently through his wet hair. He just couldn't forget him, the way his eyes would light up when he had the solution, the passion he would display in every single case he had thrown himself into. Edogawa Conan, Kudo Shinichi, they were one and the same, and they fascinated Kaito to no end.

Smiling through the rain, Kaito felt his cheeks growing warm by his own tears running down in a steady stream, mixing with the water. He wanted to deny it, but Kaito knew deep down he missed him, missed him more than he missed his life as moonlighting magician. Scratch that, Conan was what he missed of his former life. Without even realizing it, Kaito had grown so attached to this boy who could read him so well like nobody had done ever before, and now he sat here, close to his grave, laughing and crying at the same time.

_Ridiculous. So ridiculous. He is dead. He won't come back. It's useless._

His smile cracked and Kaito buried his face back into his hands, sobbing softly as thunder began to roar above him. Still fighting his tears, Kaito didn't want to cry. Not because of this, not because of him. He didn't want to remember his old rival by crying over his loss. It wasn't what he had wanted and still, more and more tears stained his cheeks. When had he turned into such a crybaby?

"Come back... C-come back..."

***

Conan stared at the view he was forced to witness with eyes full of regret and sorrow. KID was crying. Conan knew, he just knew, KID was crying. But why?

He couldn't imagine any reason KID would be crying for. The gem inside his hands was pulsing by now, blood had started to pile up a little in his tiny prison. How high was it? Merely a few centimeters, yet it was enough to let him grow a tiny bit antsy. What would happen if the entire coffin would be filled?  
Conan didn't even want to think about it.

Pandora had been reacting stronger and stronger to him and the young detective observed this with weird fascination. God knew why it had become worse, yet curiosity was as present as ever inside the detective. Slowly but surely, he had gotten a little bubbly inside the coffin. Meditation, a hobby which he had turned to since there wasn't exactly much to do, had managed to suppress it a little, yet the more days passed the bubblier he became. It was torture to be locked up like this when he wanted to run around and crush someone in a good game of soccer.  
There was an incredible, inexplicable urge to go somewhere, just where? Something deep down inside his gut demanded him to get the heck out of this place and go somewhere.

Conan swallowed and took a deep breath as the sobbing of his old rival faded from his ears and was replaced by the deafening silence around him. Especially now it was bad... he felt that his goal was close, to damn close, and all he would have to do was get up, walk a few steps, and reach what he had always wanted. Conan couldn't describe why or what this urge was, by best means, it was unlogical and moreover absolutely ridiculous. But it was there, and it gnawed at Conan's nerves like nothing had ever done before. Was he becoming claustrophobic? Was he loosing his sanity?

His thoughts and worries were constantly interrupted by the faint noise of KID crying gently within the rain, still ringing in his ears. It felt so unnatural to him, that the KID was weeping like this, so sorrowful and torn apart by frustration. Conan wanted to know, Conan wanted to know so bad what had upsetted him. The thought of seeing the KID without his pokerface, without the suit, without the mask of a showman he constantly put on... His stomach began to flutter slightly again.

_I want to see him... I want to see him crying... I want to see him without that stupid pokerface... I want to comfort him..._

KID had done so many favors to him Conan couldn't even count them. His every cell screamed at him to be there for him, to take all the pain off of his soul and the weight from his heart and yet, he was unable to move to just do that. Conan was forced to stay here, full on knowing how KID was feeling, and doomed to accept it.

Slowly, a few tears of frustration began to run down his face. KID shouldn't cry. Never again.


	18. Encounter

Kaito spent the following days of his small vacation lingering in front of the cemetery- at night, mostly. Not only was he more comfortable being outside at this time of the day- his days as moonlighting thief had really taken a toll on him- Kaito also didn't want to cause any suspicion by continously returning to the cemetery.

_I want to go in... I want to say goodbye..._

Like an idiot, Kaito had built up the strengh to march up to the gates of the by a large fence surrounded cemetery, only to freeze in front of them with every cell inside his body wanting him to turn and leave again. Kaito felt torn by his fear to enter this place and the need to go see whatever was there, waiting for him.

Something was off about this cemetery and Kaito sensed it perfectly. Something which wasn't natural, something which wasn't supposed to be there. It was kind of weird but his curiosity grew more and more with each hour passing.

"To see even the great Kaitou KID so obviously fazed by his death..."

The voice was quiet, closing in from the left. Kaito successfully managed not to jump- had he been so deep in thought? Innocence written all over his face, Kaito turned and opened his mouth to argue his identity, yet his mouth went dry as he recognized the woman in front of him, teablonde coloured hair, a bare twitch of her lips twisted into some sort of small smile and eyes that had seen far more than anyone her age could have comprehended.  
Haibara Ai let out a chuckle, detensing the situation. She had just wanted to give her former partner a tiny scare.  
"I haven't awaited you to lack a response. Thief got your tongue?"  
Kaito narrowed his eyebrows and stared at the woman for a moment, then made the effort to turn back towards the cemetery, not dignifying her with another glance.  
"I was just surprised... You must be mistaken. Why are you striking up a conversation, Ojou-san?"

Haibara breathed out a deep sigh, following suit and letting her gaze wander instead over the cemetery beyond the gates. She knew it wasn't going to be easy and she didn't know either how she had even gotten the idea that this stranger used to be the Kaitou KID, yet she knew.  
"His death shook us all... I was the first one at the hospital. He had already been determined as dead."  
Kaito resisted the urge to swallow down the lump building up inside his throat at the news. He certainly acknowledged her guts to keep talking to him with the positive knowledge who he was instead of insisting for him to admit it to her by himself. Kaito was wary of her- yet Haibara Ai seemed everything but hostile at the moment and likely wasn't going to make any move on blowing up on him.

"I... I appreciate your attendance, KID. You came to settle with everything at his grave, didn't you?"  
Kaito eyed the female from the corner of his eyes; the scientist didn't look any bit at him. All he gave was a small nod but she didn't seem to mind.  
"We could go together" she finally offered, turning to him with an encouraging expression, yet the male who had been next to her had vanished into thin air. Haibara blinked twice, then sighed, deeply frustrated she hadn't seen this coming.

Alone, Haibara smiled up at the gates, then took the last brave steps to cross the line and enter the graveyard. It was annoying to say the least; KID had had his cap pulled too far into his face for her to make out any positive features she could use to locate him again- and what if he had been wearing a mask? Haibara honestly doubted Kaitou KID was just running around in Beika with his real face out for all public to see.

Said one didn't know what to make of this encounter with the scientist he had cosplayed as a favor for his Meitantei. Did she saw who he was? Kuroba Kaito, worldfamous magician?  
The retired thief stared down at his gloves and sighed. This time he had chosen brown gloves to wear since he didn't want anybody to associate his white gloves with KID.  
He didn't know what had given his identity away but Kaito sure as hell was glad he had been able to sneak away.

_Haibara hasn't changed at all... She still looks like the same strict, funkilling and mean girl she used to be. Just a bit more mature._

Deep in thought, the magician headed towards his hotel room, deciding to call it a day. He had two nights left to pass before he would be flying back again to continue his world tour. Deep down inside his mind, Kaito honestly doubted he was ready to enter the graveyard by this time.

_Maybe I should extend my stay? But that would be noticed by public._

Kaito slipped the key card into its lock and pushed open the door to his domain, closing it just as quick behind himself. He made his way into the bathroom, sat down in front of a big mirror, and began to unstick as careful as possible the mask of Kuroba Kaito from his face. The red skin appearing underneath made Kaito grimace and close his eyes, skilled fingers slipping carefully underneath the latex in a procedure he had gotten used to way too fast. Slowly but surely, he had become unsettled by the fact he was wearing more masks than he had ever worn, yet the thought of loosing his own identity over this had been as ridiculous as always.

_I can't exactly forget myself if I'm wearing a mask of myself._

Kaito wanted to convince himself that this was something different but in all honesty, as he opened his indigo eyes to come face to face with his horrendous reflection, sadness pooled into his guts at the realization he was most likely never able to go out in public as himself ever again.


	19. A Garden of Statues

Conan stared at the wooden cover of his coffin with shock twisting his facial muscles, Pandora faintly illuminating his grave as usual. No, he wasn't mistaken, he had seen the oh so familiar outlines of the Beikan cemetery through KID's eyes. KID was here, he had come from him, and this knowledge set a wave of panic and joy at the same time through his stiff body.

_Is it physical possible that I could gain his attention by screaming as loud as possible?_

Conan was tempted to try but knew it had no chance to get through to his rival's ears. With the wind knocked out of his sails, the detective voiced a groan and closed his eyes again, falling into deep thoughts. It was frustrating to say the least, KID was so close and he couldn't do anything to reach out to him. It was killing him, being unable to do anything now that his freedom was so close.

_Wait a second... My visions have been appearing more frequent than before... But no, I would become tired way too fast before any new vision would reach him... <7em>_

_So the idea of waving with Pandora in front of his eyes would fall away, too. He was going to try it for a while since he wasn't going to get any better idea so soon._

_***_

_After only a few hours of staying inside his hotel room, Kaito had already left it again. He felt even more restless than usual, it felt suffocating to say the least, staying hidden away inside his room._

__Half past 3am... Where would I want to go now?_ _

_Kaito, dressed in black and with his trademark cap shielding his face from any unpleasant people recognizing him, found himself in front of an all too familiar building. The outlines of the eery house had just started to sink in as Kaito's feet already marched through the entrance and followed a small path into the backyard.  
Slightly stunned, Kaito froze on his spot, wind playing with the bits of hair sticking out from below his cap._

__How long has it been since his death? A month? Two?_ _

_And yet the statues looked so well cared for, so loved and cherished by his old rival. Not one root of ivy stained the rocks he had chiseled into a masterpiece, no moss ramed his creations. Before he could registrate it, Kaito's hand was outstretched and trailing along Hattori Heiji's motorcycle, driving along the precise lines he had created, eyes closed to cherish the memory of the days and nights he had worked to present his Meitantei a collection of his friends formed into stone._

__I wanted to put you at ease... No matter how many people have died around you, in your arms..._ _

_Kaito reopened his eyes, lips curling up into a fond and warm smile. His hand had travelled onto Masumi's outstretched foot, remembering the awful kick to his face she had given him. A grimace hushed over his face- that had hurted for a good while. And all that in front of his Meitantei! A feeling of mortification settled into Kaito's guts and he quickly moved on, trying to shake it off._

__I created something for you that wasn't going to fade out of your life before you would have done._ _

_Crouching down in front of the proud Shounen Tantei, the male couldn't help but smile at their proud and confident faces. Maybe he should have put some research into them, too. Were the Shounen Tantei still solving mysteries?  
Even without his Meitantei, KID knew that had potential.  
"I never imagined..."  
Kaito murmured out loud, trailing off in the same second as he realized he had become vocal._

__I never imagined your end to be so fast, Meitantei._ _

_The magician made his round slowly past each and every statue, purposely avoiding to look at the one proudly kneeling inside the middle of his circle. This was past, he kept chanting in his thoughts, this wasn't something needing to be dug up again. He didn't need to see his alter ego, admire what he had once been, cherish the goal he had had so long ago._

_Reaching the statue he had put the most effort into, Kaito froze and was apalled by what he discovered. For a good minute Kaito stood there, eyes wide, staring at the dark and empty hole in front of him, an equally large hole slowly spreading inside his heart. Nervousity began to bubble up inside his guts, Kaito felt sick._

__Shinichi... Shinichi's chest... it's empty... It's empty..!!_ _

_His vision began to blur, adrenaline flared in his veins. Why was it empty?! He had stored it away so well! Who took it?! How long was it gone? His throat went dry with all those thoughts firing up a hurricane inside his brain.  
Kaito inspected his surrounding as if any of the Crows would jump at him for this discovery. Hand clutching his own half of Pandora, Kaito felt it pulsing at the recognition of its second half's blood._

__Where is it?! Where is it?! Where is it?!_ _

_Wild indigo eyes scanned every meter of the ground, the statues, even behind bushes. It couldn't have been gone. That was impossible.  
Kaito fell onto his knees and began to dig barehanded into the flowers he had planted years ago, ripping the plants and dirt apart._

__It could have fallen out and buried itself! Right! That's good! It will be here! I just need to continue!_ _

_His breath was alarmingly fast, his throat felt like closed up. Pandora wasn't here. Would all his efforts go to waste? What if the Crows took it?  
Kaito wanted to cry, scream and laugh at the same time. Wind howling around the black figure, Kaito kept digging deeper and deeper until a stern yet sad voice forced him to stop._

_"Kudo found Pandora, KID. He took it."_

_Kaito whirled around to stare at the woman with the all too familiar labcoat, clutching her clipboard in hand. His mind was unable to process what he had just heard._

_"I figured you would sooner or later come here."_


	20. Tea Time

Haibara stared at the man in front of her whose face she still couldn't see properly. For a moment, time froze around these two, and an awkward silence filled the area, minus the soft howling of an ice cold spring wind around them.

"KID... Come to my house. Let's sit down and talk for a bit. I haven't seen you since..."  
Haibara trailed off but she wasn't in need to say anything more. KID didn't budge, he had his cap pulled quite down into his face but Haibara felt his eyes piercing through her. She sincerely hoped KID would see she was genuine- since Conan's death Haibara hadn't seen anybody properly, with the Shounen Tantei busy studying for finals.

"Where is Pandora now, Ojou-san?"  
As KID finally spoke, his voice was distant and thick with suppressed emotions. He didn't have to explain anything, Haibara had already expected him to ask.  
"I will tell you if you join me on a cup of tea."

Kaito stared at the woman in front of him, unable to make anything out of this situation. While this was a welcome distraction for his panic to die down, it was also a sign he had become predictable to the young scientist.  
But what did he have to loose? It would be nice to at least catch up with someone else that wasn't his mother.

"I am not someone to deny the invitation of a young lady, however, I do request personal space and a barely lit room."  
Haibara rolled her eyes but couldn't help the smile that was threatening to appear on her lips. KID was still KID.  
"Don't worry."  
Haibara turned on her heel, trusting KID to follow his words and head after her.

The male stared at the back of the scientist in front of him with wary eyes. He wasn't quite sure if Haibara just wanted company- actually, screw that, if she already knew about Pandora she was going to squish him out about it. Kaito mentally sighed and shook his head to get rid of this thought. Haibara Ai was somewhat trustworthy but he was going to keep his guard, even if she didn't seem hostile towards him.

_At least she never chased me around with hellish round objects._

Kaito passed her front door with only so much inner nervousity. He wasn't quite sure what would await him, but he would insult his alter ego if he was going to deny this invitation. KID was a gentlemen thief, even years later after his resignation.  
"Sit down there, I'll turn the lights lower and make us a nice cup of tea."  
This voice pulled him out of his thoughts and Kaito looked over to the nice and comfortable couch she was nodding to before the girl disappeared to brew some fresh tea. Eyes inspecting his surroundings closely, Kaito let himself slowly down on his seat; at least he hadn't spotted any cameras or anything remotely suspicious going on.

_What did I get myself into again... ___

__Haibara was somewhat pleased to know she had coaxed the Kaitou KID into her house for a cup of tea. Considering his appearance, the retired thief was quite the wary type of person, even in private. She had remembered him as a different person back then, full of life and ambition for life.  
Soon enough she had a nice tray ready and carried it outside onto the living room, satisfied noting KID hadn't bolted yet. She set it down and offered a cup to the thief before sitting down at the opposite end of the couch, enjoying a longdrawn sip of her own tea and swallowed it. Only then, KID took a small sip of his own._ _

___Did he really expect me to spike the tea?_ _ _

__Haibara couldn't help but smile the tiniest bit amused.  
"I do have to wonder about your attempts of contact, Ojou-san. There is nothing for us to discuss."  
Sighing, the girl turned to the male next to her.  
"I wanted to see you, KID. I have some questions I couldn't ask Kudo before- ...you know... and I know you can answer them."  
She paused, giving the phantom enough time to let her words sink in, yet the male didn't let himself be swayed so easily from his goal.  
"Where is Pandora, Ojou-san?"  
Haibara's voice stuck inside her throat and she sighed again, shaking her head.  
"I know you at least this far, KID. You'll bolt as soon as I tell you. I will let you know, but please cooperate for once. After all, you still owe me for going along with your plans last time."_ _

__Kaito lowered his head a little to shadow his face a bit more, going through his options. Haibara wasn't quite far from the truth with her knowledge, he wasn't going to stay more than comfortable. Finally, Kaito nodded his head yes, and the scientist released a breath she didn't remember holding in.  
"But I will decide what to answer" he added, voice laced with confidence. Haibara closed her eyes for a second, trying to formulate her question.  
"Do you feel the need to keep Pandora as close to you as possible? You have it with you, don't you?"  
Kaito nearly spewed his tea all over the table but managed to catch himself right beforehand. How the heck did she know that?!_ _

___Pokerface!!_ _ _

__"Straightforward, aren't we? I-"  
"Don't worry" she interrupted him and Kaito shut his mouth with an audible click, "I don't want to have your half. I just need to confirm something... If... hypothetically... you do have Pandora with you... and feel the urge to keep it as close as possible..."  
Haibara made a point to pause again.  
"...you are the same as Kudo. I find this to be far from coincidential."_ _

__Kaito watched with surprise hidden in his eyes as she turned away to put her cup down, getting lost in her musings.  
"If I were to believe this hypothesis, I'm sure you have been influenced by Pandora. I did a bit of research in the old files of the Black Organization after Kudo's death... I managed to find out about something fairly interesting which I think you should know, too."  
Haibara flashed a glance back at him.  
"Say... Why exactly did you come here? You knew there is a gigantic risk anybody would recognize you, and an even bigger one if you would dare to visit Kudo's grave."_ _

__Kaito opened his mouth yet kept silent for a second. Before he could give his answer, Haibara raised her voice again.  
"Kudo often spoke about an inexplicable urge to go somewhere. He didn't know where to but something inside his body was screaming at him to leave Japan."  
Freezing, Kaito stared at her. That was definitely something new._ _

___Meitantei had the same urge?_ _ _

__"You don't know why you came here, isn't that true? Hearing about Kudo's death was just the last straw it took for you to come. You feel the same, don't you?"_ _

__Unable to loose his eyes from the scientist in front of him, Kaito finally gave a small nod to agree to her. Haibara noted with satisfaction that the former moonlight magician sounded genuine for the first time.  
"I... I don't know, yes, I'll admit it. Since months something inside me wanted me to come back to Japan. I didn't know what it was, I didn't know why. Now that I'm here... I feel my goal is close, so close, but I can't pinpoint it."_ _

__Haibara sighed, stood up, and left the living room and with that a surprised Kaito behind, only to return with a small file she had printed out.  
"I need you to read this. This is all I have... But it explains a lot."  
Kaito warily took the file held out to him and began flying over the words while Haibara took her seat once again. Eyes widening, Kaito stared at the words which began to swim a little in front of his eyes._ _

___I can't believe it._ _ _


	21. Plans are made

Kaito stared at the filled paper in his hands with wide eyes. This was certainly something he didn't expect. He knew Pandora was influencing him, but to this extent?

"All of this did already happen, KID. Thousands of years ago. Pandora had been destroyed, and those who were destined to guard the shards in different places of the world had become corrupted by the gem's blood, and had followed the urge to the rest of the shards until Pandora was restored."  
Swallowing, the young magician let his eyes wander from the file towards his gloved hands.

_Pandora is manipulating me. Pandora is forcing me to find its second half. That's why I'm having visions of it. That's why I'm so full of energy. I'll be restless until I did it. Am I really and actually immortal? Or is it just Pandora using me until it accomplished what it wants?_

Haibara could only imagine what was going on inside the former thief next to her. She felt somewhat pityful at that. Yet suddenly, KID froze and turned back to her, eyes suspicious. Something didn't add up there.  
"That doesn't make sense, Ojou-san. If Pandora had been protected by its own guards... How could it end up in my hands?"  
Haibara took a sip of her tea and smiled a rather sad smile.  
"As far as I understood it, Pandora is using its host as a personal guardian until it became whole again. As soon as Pandora's pieces became one again... I believe this spook will be over and you are able to live free of any manipulation."  
She stopped and eyed Kaito with something akin to curiosity and concern, making said one slightly uneasy.  
"Say, KID... How far are you corrupted? Where did the blood touch you?"

Kaito let out a soft and weak chuckle, putting the file down onto the coffee table.  
"Where? Everywhere. There is not one spot on me which hasn't been in contact with the blood. Please don't ask further, you really do not want to know, Ojou-san."  
Haibara pursed her lip.  
"I believe you stopped eating? Sleeping? Any kind of normal body function besides breathing?"  
The magician nodded and once again, the scientist looked incredibly sorry at what she was hearing. At least this wasn't as awful to her as hearing it from Kudo.  
"Where is Pandora?"  
"...you still want to find it? Despite what you know now?"

Kaito sighed deeply and slowly stood up, facing his back to her to hide his painful smile.  
"I won't be able to let go unless Pandora has been recovered, it seems. I will make sure it is safe and won't ever be touched by anybody again."  
Haibara watched the male, nervousity gnawing at her nerves. Was she really going to tell him? She had to keep her word after she had squished him out about his own conditions but her heart felt heavy at the chance of the same thing happening again a few hundred or thousand years later. Or god beware, if next time a shady organization was going to find it first. And yet, she felt like she could trust Kaito to do the right thing.  
"I could have taken it with me but... I left it with Kudo. Pandora is inside his coffin."  
Kaito froze, head raising and muscles tensing.

_Inside his coffin?! How am I supposed to get onto it?! I can't exactly dig a whole coffin out!_

Kaito let out a desperate sigh and finally nodded to himself, turning back to the expecting Haibara.  
"Ojou-san, I will leave my half where it belongs. I... I believe I will need a hand to get rid of it."  
The girl, after seeing KID so tense, couldn't help but let out a quiet chuckle. She had seen how much nerves it had costed Shinichi after her only asking him to lend her Pandora. Haibara raised herself and flashed a glance at the clock.  
"Well, it's close to morning... You should go home and we can meet at nighttime in the cemetery."  
Kaito smiled relieved and tipped his cap, before he vanished in a small cloud of purple smoke in front of her.  
"I will await you."  
The girl rolled her eyes and began to clean up the cups.

_This guy and his flashy exits._

***

Conan felt far more restless than usual inside his grave. Something was going to happen, he could feel it inside his bones, and by god, it was killing him not to know what it was. He usually had the same feeling on a case, when time was running out and he had no evidence which could convinve anyone of the suspect.

_Pandora has never reacted this strong until now. Something must be here, close. Is Pandora reacting to KID? He was at Beika cemetery last time. Or is that just nonsense?_

Conan let out a deep and painful sigh. He wanted to know so bad he wanted to scream until his lungs gave in. He wished KID would finally find him, why else was he in Japan? There was no other reason that he could imagine despite his own death which could bring Kaitou KID to return to his home country.

_Did you find any way in?_

A soft gasp escaped his lips as he heard the familiar voice of Haibara Ai ringing faintly in his ears. He couldn't decide wether this was a vision or not, but he so badly wished that it wasn't a vision and he could really hear her above his grave.  
Because that would mean, she could actually hear him, too. Conan took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and screamed her name as loud as he could in hopes she would hear him.

"HAIBARAAAA!!!!!"

Blissfully innocent, Haibara smiled at the male in black in front of her who waved her over to a small hole in the brick wall close by, tarned by a bush. She was actually excited to sneak around again like she used to do with Conan. What they were doing wasn't exactly legal at this hour of the day.  
KID seemed visibly tense in her eyes, a wonder he wasn't able to cover it up as perfect as he used to do. This was probably way too much for him. Pityful, she crawled through the hole and grimaced at the wet grass dirtying her clothes, before she stood up and took KID's hand to lead him over towards the grave of a certain detective because she had a feeling his legs weren't going to budge elseway.

Kaito couldn't.  
This was the grave of Edogawa Conan.  
His Meitantei.

The retired thief swallowed and stared wide eyed at the small nameplate. His muscles didn't move, everything felt frozen inside him.


	22. Fight the Battle, Lose the Battle

Kaito stared down at the grave shadowed by the darkness around them. Barely any light was coming through the trees of lanterns all around them on the streets, thus it was nearly impossible for Kaito to read the letters on the grave, yet he knew just by heart that this was the last residence of Kudo Shinichi.  
His throat began to swell shut, cutting off his air, and Kaito clenched his teeth to keep himself under control. His companion kept her silence, knowing he needed it, until Kaito pressed a small "Please lend me a hand, Ojou-san. Pandora is inside my pocket" out between his lips.

While doing his best to stand still for her and his own sake, Kaito squeezed his eyes shut as he felt Haibara's hand sliding elegantly into his pocket, quickly fishing out the gem and pulling away.  
By god, it was awful.  
Out of reflex, Kaito jumped after the gem, but Haibara evaded him with a soft gasp of surprise. She hadn't expected Kaito to be this attached to Pandora and yet, it did make sense to her.  
"B-bury it... Please..." Kaito pressed out again and Haibara quickly dug a small hole directly above Kudo Shinichi's grave, let the half of Pandora fall into darkness, and closed it again before she made a point of sitting down on this spot.

Kaito stared at her, eyes wild, completely forgetting to pull his cap down to shield his face. Not that it helped Haibara much- it was too dark to make out any good features, yet the eyes of her fellow companion gave her quite the shiver.  
Kaito didn't know what to do. His heart was threatening to jump out of his ribcage, the pain was outright unbearable, every muscle was shaking in absolute and utter adrenaline.

_PandoraPandoraPandoraPandora-_

Haibara managed to scoot away in the last second before Kaito launched at her, well, at the spot Pandora was buried. She opened her mouth to say something but it went as dry as a desert; what even was there she could have said or done?  
Kaito clutched Pandora inside his hands, holding it close to his chest, covering on the ground, breath uneven. For a moment, an awkward silence lasted over them, and finally the young scientist let out a breath of exhaustion, breaking it.  
"That about leaving it here... What will you do now, KID?"

Kaito needed some time to gather himself and Haibara didn't mind the wait. It was almost ridiculous how the retired Kaitou KID was clutching a stone for his dear life.  
"...I-I..." he began, swallowing dry. Haibara pursed her lips and slowly rose from the ground, offering a hand to her companion. Another minute later, and KID took it to follow suit. Both stared at each other for what felt like eternity, at loss of words.

Yeah, what exactly was Kaito going to do now?

"Oh my god, this thing actually bleeds for real...!"  
Haibara stared at the gem inside Kaito's hands, lively as ever, and his eyes followed hers.  
"Oh god it's running all over your gloves-" she gasped, shuffling through her pockets for tissues to catch the suspicious fluid. Kaito's lips curled up into a faint smile.  
"Please leave it be, Ojou-san. I-... I don't mind."  
Haibara paused, eyes shooting back up at her companion. KID didn't mind more blood on him? This was fairly interesting. He looked much more calm as well than mere seconds ago.

_Is the blood some kind of comfort for its victims?_

Haibara breathed out a deep frustrated sigh and raked a hand through her teablonde hair, mussing it up a little.  
"I propose we should go back... Returning the gem is impossible like this. I'm so sorry, KID... If I had known beforehand how much it affected you, too, I'd have kept it in Kudo's place. We can't exactly dig up an entire coffin..."  
She trailed off, touching her chin deep in thought, but Kaito couldn't help than to agree. His shoulders slumped down in defeat... this entire trip had been a horrible idea. At least his ears weren't ringing anymore and he could actually calm himself.

The atmosphere relaxed almost instantly, yet both knew what this meant. Their plan had failed... and Kaito wasn't going to risk staying any longer.  
"Is this going to be a goodbye forever?" Haibara asked with disappointment hinting inside her tone. She wasn't exactly fond to let KID go this easily after all those years. She had grown to like the former phantom thief quite a bit. Kaito on the other hand, gave a silent nod. He was not going to risk any contact to any person inside this country any longer. The Crows were still active, and even if not fixated onto him, it was his task to pay attention to Pandora and keep it safe from them. Such a decision required sacrifices, and Kaito had made his choice long ago the day he had grabbed the white tuxedo from the mannequin.

"Meitantei... Meitantei was a great person."

Haibara perked up, pupils widening at what Kaito was doing. Kneeling before the grave, he had produced a white rose inside his hands, a painful smile on his lips. Was he actually going to do this? Haibara couldn't help but take a step back. This was his moment. She knew KID had wanted to bid his farewell since so long... and at the same time, a wave of sadness overcame here. This meant KID wasn't going to return to Japan again.

"In good and bad times, you have always been there... chasing me under a moonlit night, making me feel less of the monster I had felt myself become. And while I had made my decision to rescue Pandora... I couldn't have continued this path without you, Meitantei."

Tears prinkled inside Kaito's eyes but he was sure to swallow them all.

"You understood me like nobody else... For you I have never been just a thief. No matter the case, no matter the evidence... you always believed in me... even though we stood on different sides, you have been a friend to me, Meitantei. A rival, a partner, a friend..."

Haibara heard Kaito add something very quietly, almost inaudibly for her.

"You have fascinated me the moment you appeared before my eyes. Thank you, Meitantei... for all you have done for me without even realizing it."


	23. Putting the Pieces together

Conan stared at the dark ceiling above his head, panic flaring in his veins. Something was going on, something was happening, and he knew he would regret it for his life if he wasn't going to do something. Just what?!

He could feel the heartbeat ringing in his ears, together with the familiar pulse of Pandora inside his hands. God, it had become sticky inside this coffin.

_At least I seem to radiate something supernatural to keep the fauna away from me... I haven't seen any worms or anything alike coming into the coffin._

Conan shuddered and his whole body twitched in disgust. He wouldn't even try to imagine the amount of animals who would have been crawling all over him now. At least something Pandora had done well for him.

His fingers twitched nervously. Something was going to come, to happen, to-

Conan stilled.

His vision became coloured, his eyes focused onto an object inside KID's hand. Pupils blowing wide, Conan started to pound against the ceiling of his prison, tears starting to appear inside his eyes.

"NO! KID! YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME HERE! KID! COME BACK! K-KID...!"

His voice cracked and Conan found himself sobbing in desperation, clawing on the wood above him. He needed to get free, he needed to get to KID-

***

Kaito stared with an emotionless expression onto his boarding pass, a deep sigh passing his lips. That had been his stay in Tokyo, huh? Now he had to go back to his tour, or else he wasn't going to make it.  
It was fairly disappointing yet at the same time relieving to come here. Things have changed for the former phantom thief... and at the same time, everything had remained utterly the same. Kaito breathed out another deep sigh and checked his watch. Not long anymore before his flight.

_At least I finally said goodbye to Meitantei... My life is going to be everything but peaceful now but at least I've been able to end this chapter of it._

With mild annoyance, Kaito played with his broken half of Pandora inside his coat. The urge to go back towards Conan's grave was still as present as ever, and Kaito honestly doubted it was going to fade ever again. He either had to find Pandora's second half and dig out the grave of his dead rival... or he was going to live his entire life in misery.  
Shrugging, Kaito sat down on a bench, awaiting his flight to be called.

_Wouldn't be the first time I load some bad luck onto my back._

Plucking his phone from his pocket, Kaito began to scroll through the internet to get rid of the time. It wasn't too long until he came across the article he had read about Conan's death. A grimace stole its way onto Kaito's face- yet he decided to read it once again, finally without emotions overflowing him.

_Huh... So he actually fell from a roof? No... he jumped. Was it suicide?_

Kaito wasn't exactly trusting his detective to try anything like this, so this weirded him a bit out. He continued to read the article with his brows furrowed in displeasure.

Something didn't add up here, and he knew the answer was inside the back of his head. Kaito just had to dig deep enough. Why exactly was this so dissatisfying?

_'Then you are the same as Kudo.'_

Kaito froze, thoughts coming to a screeching halt. Didn't Haibara say exactly this? After she had gotten to know he had been influenced by Pandora?  
Kaito pursed his lips and glared into the space. Did this mean... Meitantei had also been corrupted by the blood? Wasn't that also the source of his abilities?

_Haibara definitely said he had neither slept nor eaten for a long time. But why did he not... survive? I survived a fall out of the 19th floor. This... this is weird. More than weird. What if...?_

Kaito's eyes grew wide, his heartbeat quickened in under a second. Almost immediately, all plans were forgotten.  
"FUCK!" he cursed, loud, and bolted from his seat through security back to the entrance. He couldn't leave Tokyo. Not yet. Fuck his flight.

The rain outside blurred his vision a little but Kaito didn't care. He waved over the next cab and jumped inside, at the same time spewing out an address. The whole drive, his thoughts ran wild.

_The coma. The fucking coma._

It wasn't long until they arrived at the laboratory of Haibara Ai. Kaito paid up and made a run towards the entrance, skilledly picking the lock and marching in.  
"Hakase! Hakase Haibara! Ojou-san!!"  
Haibara ran out of the kitchen, eyes blown wide at the familiar voice- it belonged to a young man? Whatever it was, it was important enough for the KID to dismiss his usual disguise.  
"KID, what happened?!" Concern laced her voice.

Kaito took a deep shaking breath, hoping to formulate his explosions of thoughts into something coherent to say.  
"O-Ojou-san, I experimented. A lot. I survived a fall from the 19th floor but also seemed to have slept through two full days. Ojou-san, I-"  
Kaito raked a hand through his hair, desperate.  
"I-I injured myself to find out if my guess was true. I slept the next days, after Pandora had healed me."  
Haibara stared at him for a moment until all of a sudden, a lightbulb went on above her head.  
"I-I keep having visions- visions showing me Pandora. I always thought it was the view of it inside the statue... and later on I assumed it was the corpse of Meitantei I saw below. I-I always thought I was just imagining it..."

Haibara turned as pale as a sheet of paper, trying to comprehend these news. Kaito swallowed, adding rather quietly.  
"Ojou-san, he was breathing. I-I thought I'd have imagined it... But what if he actually fell into the same sleep I went through because of my injuries?"

Kaito's voice turned into a whisper, his whole body shaking.  
"Meitantei... h-he might be alive... buried six feet underground..."  
Haibara covered her mouth in shock, nodding hastily.  
"I-I'll get the shovels. As soon as it gets dark, we'll dig it out."  
Kaito nodded, firmly, yet for now he chose to sat down on the couch, hoping to gain control over his trembling body.

_Meitantei might be alive._


	24. Rescue

Kaito could barely sit still on Haibara's couch while they desperately waited until dusk. It wasn't exactly a great idea to dig out a coffin in broad daylight.  
The magician resorted to card tricks; he was continously mixing cards together and letting some randomly dis- and reappear all over the place.

"Would you kindly stop with that?!"  
Haibara glared at the phantom thief who merely flinched, having not awaited to be yelled at. Inside Haibara's tea cup swam a heart ace.  
The young hakase was not amused.  
Kaito breathed out a deep sigh and let the card disappear again.  
"Is there anything to pass time? Anything?"  
"Well, do you have matters to be taken care of?" Haibara replied nonchalantly.

Kaito narrowed his eyebrows as he remembered that yes, he had things to do.  
For example delay his next show because of the events. Sighing, the young magician picked himself up from the couch and dragged himself into one of the other rooms to have some privacy while Haibara took a satisfied sip of her tea.

_Worldfamous magician, Kuroba Kaito. It's ridiculous that this guy used to be Kaitou KID, but it does make sense._

It had hit her as she had watched a tv commercial when Kaito was using the bathroom. An advertisement for his upcoming show, live on television.  
She first hadn't paid attention at all, she just couldn't bear the silence around her and desperately needed a voice in the background to help her relax. What Haibara hadn't awaited was to see the face of her guest in full view on the television, advertising his upcoming show.

_It is actually pretty satisfying to know his identity._

The young hakase chuckled to herself. Kudo would have died of jealousy if he would have known... not that she was going to tell him.

***

Conan froze as a noise made its way towards his ears. Something... he couldn't quite describe it.

_A vision? No... I feel like usual._

His hearing had improved a little due to the constant silence around him, so he was pretty sure this tiny noise was everything but normal. But it got louder and louder...

A yelp left Conan's mouth as his entire coffin began to shake. Eyes widening, he clung to the cushioned surface, by now crusted in blood.

_What?! Someone is moving the coffin!! Oh god-_

Before he could think any further, he already began to yell out in hopes the stranger would hear him.  
"OPEN THE COFFIN! I'M STUCK!"  
It wasn't too long until he heard something digging into the wooden ceiling; each nail got pulled out one by one. Conan felt his heart racing, it was finally time. Someone would save him, he was going to see sunlight, he could actually be part of a society again-  
Tears began to ran down his cheeks as he tried to be patient but every second more was a torture to the young detective.

Finally, he heard a voice from above.  
"Meitantei! I heard you! I can't quite get a grip on it-! Push, Meitantei!!"  
Blood freezing in his veins, Conan paused. God, he knew this nickname way too good. More tears began to run down his cheeks, mixing with the blood below him.  
Conan didn't hesitate, he shuffled to lift his arms, then began to push as hard as he could. Relief flooded his guts at the tiniest creak he could hear, damn, the coffin was opening! In the small bit of light he could make out a pair of hands slipping under the lid, helping him to lift it.

The wooden cover slammed open and Conan sat up, blinking into the moonlight blinding him, an obscurred person bending over the coffin and extending a hand for him to grab. Conan didn't hesitate; he reached out to cling onto the gloved hand, letting the stranger pull him up onto his feet.  
"Kudo! Kudo you are alive...!!"  
The female voice above them was just as shocked as he felt. Conan's head whipped up to see Haibara Ai looming over the grave, one hand extended as well to help the two males out of the dug hole.

Shinichi sank onto the ground as soon as he felt it below his feet, tears over tears pouring from his already red eyes. He grabbed two hands of grass, sobbing.  
"O-oh god... T-this is grass...!"  
He looked around, a smile as bright and relieved as it couldn't have ever been on his lips. The moonlight gave him quite a good view onto his surroundings, the wind was sweetly warm and ruffling through his hair so nicely, he could clearly hear the rustling of leaves all around him.

_There are trees!_

Shinichi laughed and cried the same time, overcome by emotions. He was free. He was finally free; and he could feel Pandora pulsing happily inside his pocket to agree with him. For a long time, Shinichi didn't care about the two people close by, for now he just let himself bath within all those different senses he could finally explore again.

_I-I never thought grass could smell so good!Author-chan waited long to build this in~ Shin-chan slept so long not because of his bones, but also because Pandora went a step ahead and started curing his current condition as well.  
That's why he never woke up for an entire two weeks and had been confirmed as dead~_

_Shin-chan is gonna be so overwhelmed when he finds out Conan is no longer~_


	25. Do you even care?

Haibara smiled at the young detective laying on the wet grass like a seven year old idiot he used to be, enjoying the comfortable atmosphere. She wasn't quite sure what to do now, thus she dismissed the entire bundle of thoughts and just stood there, watching, enjoying to see her friend so lively like he hadn't been before.

After a long while, Shinichi finally relaxed again and slowly sat up; the realization he had been living out his antics in front of not only Haibara (god he wasn't going to hear the end of it) but also the person who was most likely his Kaitou KID made him mildly sheepish. The young detective rose from the ground and awkwardly dusted off his clothes; they felt grimy with sweat and Pandora's blood still glued onto him, and the wet grass hadn't exactly helped there.  
The sleuth shot a glare at his best friend who did hard to stifle her chuckling, then his eyes finally darted over to the man who made sure to hide his identity as usual. A tiny bit of frustration gnawed at Shinichi's guts- he could clearly see the face in front of him was nothing but a mask. Yet he knew more than well enough who was below it.

"...Kaitou KID. It's you, right?"  
His sapphire eyes smiled even if his face kept a perfect pokerface. Kaito tilted his head, silent, shadowing his face as perfect as always. The colour of his eyes was disturbing, glowing, reflecting the moonlight casted upon them.  
Purple, bleeding into a speck of red.  
A tiny gust of wind sent a shiver down the detective's back as he shifted from one leg to the other, averting his eyes, trying to shake off the uncomfortable feeling KID's stare projected into his guts.

Were those the same eyes he had missed all those years?

Tension rose and Haibara swallowed, unsure how to react to this. Why wasn't KID saying anything? She flashed a glance back and forth between them, then finally took a step back and sat down on one of their bags, eying the two with interest gleaming in her eyes.

When KID finally spoke, he was calm, collected, yet at the same time so unlike the way he had spoken to him before. Shinichi didn't recognize the man he had grown attached to over the months, whose life he had seen countless times through his eyes, the lonely man whose life had been still filled with joy.  
"Pandora, Meitantei."  
Kaito stretched his hand out, indigos fixating sapphires. Shinichi huffed and shook his head in disbelief; he desperately tried to conceal how his heart had skipped a beat at the too familiar voice.  
"I can't believe that's your greeting, KID. Where is the flashy entrance? The 'Ladies and Gentlemen'?"

The thief before him paused for a second, giving him a calculating look.  
"I retired, Meitantei. Kaitou KID does no longer exist."  
Shinichi let out a dry laugh. Slowly but surely, he could feel his pulse rising, anger pooling into his guts.  
"Obviously. You've left me just like that. Poof, gone. After playing games with me for months, after making me fear for the lives of my friends. I should hate your guts, bastard."  
Kaito kept his silence, unfazed, and by god it was pissing Shinichi only more off. The sleuth was beginning to talk himself into a rage, hatred filling his eyes as he glared at the former phantom thief, words laced with venom.  
"Do you even have a single idea what I've gone through?! Bit by bit everyone I cherished was gone, every few days I had to run against time to try and prevent you from stealing more of the only bits of sanity I could keep through them! What went on in your head?! You sick bastard!!"  
Kaito wanted to say something but his mouth was dry; calm eyes kept observing the raging detective in front of him. This felt oddly familiar.  
"All this?! All this just to vanish on me?! D-do you even realize how hurt I was?! You hurt me, KID, you hurt me so much I can't even put it into words!!"

_ALL THIS?! ALL THIS FOR A GEM?!_

Kaito lifted his hand to pull his baseball cap a tiny bit lower, obscurring his eyes from Shinichi's view, lips curling up into a tiny smirk. He had gone through this once, he would go through this again. This was no biggie, right? After all, he had once been Kaitou KID. Important was to keep his pokerface.  
"Pandora, Meitantei. Hand it over."  
Shinichi froze, rant dying out on his tongue. The last sparks of hope that KID could actually care for him, regret what he had done to him, acknowledge the fact that this had been a step way too far into personal space, it had been drained from his eyes until sparkling sapphire was left a lifeless blue.  
"No."

A dull laugh emitted from his throat as Shinichi shook his head, hand automatically wandering into his pocket to hold Pandora tight.  
"You don't even care, right? You just came back for this stupid stone. I can't believe it. I'm just another detective you managed to fool in your childish antics of ruining people's lives."  
Kaito breathed out a soft sigh, a small movement of his fingers was enough to bring his own half of the gemstone to light, allowing Shinichi to eye it under the moonlight.  
"The blood is equal to glue, Meitantei. It will all stop once the gem is whole again. Hand it over, Meitantei. Then it'll be all over. All of it."

Shinichi shook his head once more, weight shifting onto one leg while his lips curled up into a grin, yet it was empty and smug at the same time.  
"Uh-huh. And then you'll run off again and disappear into nowhere just like last time. Forget it."  
The sleuth approached Kaito with fast steps and grabbed a hand full of his sweater, pulling him close to meet his eyes. Kaito willingly let it happen, he wasn't a man of violence and as long as Shinichi wasn't going to overstate, he had no plans of defending himself.

_I deserve that. I deserve this all. I've brought nothing but misfortune over everyone I was with, while I was bathing in luck. Go on, Meitantei. Let it all out. It wouldn't be the first time._

Shinichi was glaring deep into his eyes and Kaito felt somewhat antsy by how close his counterpart was, yet what he spewed out next rendered him speechless.  
"If this gem is all it takes to keep you here... You'll have to murder me to get onto my half. You're not getting away again, KID. This time, you'll stay with me. And I won't fucking let you go again."


	26. Why would you want me to stay?

Kaito stared at Shinichi, unmoving, shock in his indigo eyes. What did he just say?

_All this?! All this for a gem?!_

No, this was something entirely different. Kaito had to rewind the conversation at least twice inside his brain to make sure he hadn't misunderstood him. Shinichi was still there, clutching his sweater in one fist, sapphire eyes glaring into his own.

_Don't... d-don't visit me anymore, Kaito-kun._

No, he certainly did not say any of this. But why? Why was Shinichi intent on forcing him to stay with him? Was he going to turn him over to the police? No, else he would have had to leave Pandora in their care. He was far too influenced to be able to do that, if not even Kaito could let his half out of his pocket without getting a heart attack.

_I... I-I... I can't live with that..._

Shinichi did not say that. Why were those words flooding his mind? Kaito wanted to reply but no voice left his mouth, he could barely registrate the quiet chuckle from the woman close by and her mildly accusing tone, "You broke him, Kudo-kun."

The young detective finally lessened his grip and flashed a hesitating glance at Haibara, thanks to her finally feeling himself pulled back into reality. His eyes landed on the gigantic hole they had dug up to free him, and his face went grim.  
"Haibara, do you have a shovel left?"  
"Sure," she muttered, already in the process of handing Shinichi one of them; Kaito finally blinked twice and headed to grab his own, realizing what his plan was.  
"We need to get this shut again before dawn, I do not want any news articles going on about someone vandalizing my grave. ...this sounds so disturbing to say."

The next hours were spent restoring the grave back to its old state, all the while Kaito's thoughts went wild while he allowed himself occasional glances over to Shinichi, disbelieving. Why wasn't he telling him to get lost? Get the fuck out of his life? Something was not quite right there, this was impossible, and yet his heart was beating so much faster while he mulled Shinichi's words over and over inside his mind, replayed the way his eyes had tried to stare into his soul and suck it all up.  
Haibara set the flower arrangements exactly like they had been before, and before Kaito was able to realize they had finished the grave, a hand grabbed his right wrist and he found himself staring right into Kudo Shinichi's eyes.

_This is way too close for my personal liking._

Kaito wanted to take a step back but his body felt like pinned by the look inside of his eyes.  
"We're going to go home now. You will join us. And I swear to god, if I return from the shower and you aren't there, I will raise hell upon you. In case you do not know, the truth about detectives is the fact we are able to commit a crime so much better because we deciphered hundreds of them."  
It was at that point Kaito had enough. The last thing Shinichi saw was a gigantic cloud rising inbetween them before he felt his wrist being twisted and his rival freeing himself with ease from his grip.  
"KID I SWEAR TO GOD-" Shinichi coughed, furious of the fact he had actually dared to pull such a stunt now- "GET BACK HERE THIS INSTANT!" The sizzling noise of power kick boots was audible, before a soccerball was kicked with impressive speed put of the cloud into nowhere.

Haibara watched this with a deadpan expression, her brain screaming at her to go to sleep and stop wasting time in the early morning with two idiots. She grabbed the ear of Shinichi as soon as he ran out of the smoke, then pulled him down to meet her, earning a muffled yelp of pain.  
"Now listen closely, Kudo. I am tired. I am full of mud. KID and I dug you half of the night up, then closed the grave the other half. You two might not have this problem anymore, but I am tired."  
Her voice drops threatingly low and for a moment, Shinichi even forgets his anger. He stands there like a deer in headlights, staring back at her, mouth popping open.  
"I haven't slept any bit. And you go ahead and mess everything up again. You, Kudo, will come home with me now, get into a shower after I cleaned myself up, and then be peaceful until I woke up from my nap. Is that clear?"  
Shinichi gave a hasty nod, whincing a little due to her nails digging into his earlobe. Her grip lessened and Shinichi stood up, rubbing with a painful grimace his ear.  
"That hurt."  
"It was supposed to hurt. Now hurry up."  
The sleuth threw a deathglare back into the park, then grabbed his load of equipment and left with Haibara.

The young magician hidden inside one of the close trees released a breath of relief. He had rarely seen Shinichi act like this and to be honest, it was scaring him a little. To that, the sleuth still believed he was Edogawa Conan.  
Pandora pulsed calmly against his side and he ducked further into the leaves while Shinichi threw a few glances back to try and pick him out between the cemetery's decorations.

This was way too much for one day.  
Kaito sighed and pulled out his phone to check the time. Nearly five in the morning. He had to check into another hotel to extend his stay.

_I can't believe Meitantei is alive. Even worse, instead of telling me to go to hell he insists I should actually stay with him?_

Kaito honestly questioned the young detective's sanity and found it awful that he knew it was Pandora what kept him here. He needed to get onto Pandora's second half, there was no other way. Kaito wasn't quite sure if he was able to sneak the gem off of his counterpart... even if he had been KID, Kudo Shinichi was a whole different level than Nakamori-keibu used to be.  
Sighing, the male slowly let himself down onto the ground and trotted out of the cemetery, going into the direction his phone was giving him to a close hotel.

***

Haibara elbowed Shinichi with a scowl on her face.  
"Couldn't you have been a bit more tactful?"  
Rubbing his arm, Shinichi let out a mild grumble.  
"I had to let it out at some point. He deserved it."  
"And now you chased him away with your behavior. It was so obvious that this was too much at once. Why couldn't you have taken it slower? But you've always been running straight ahead into danger..."  
Shinichi sighed, lowering his head. Maybe he did fuck this up a little bit.  
"I don't want him to leave me again, Haibara... I saw so much of his life through Pandora... I... I want to see this with my own eyes, not through his."  
"And that's why you literally threatened him to raise hell upon him if he runs away. Good move. 10 out of 10, Kudo."  
"Oh shut up."


	27. Two Counterparts

Bursting in joy, Shinichi stared at his reflection once he had gotten out of the shower Haibara insisted him to take.  
Not that she would have needed to press the issue, Shinichi was more than in need of a good, long and hot shower.

But now, right there in front of this mirror, the person who was looking back at the detective was in no way Edogawa Conan. He looked... mature.

_Is that true? I-I can't even believe this._

A knock at the door startled Shinichi out of his thoughts and Haibara's voice followed short after.  
"Are you covered? I need to take a look at you."  
Without any further thought, Shinichi opened the bathroom with a bright grin, letting the fellow scientist get a good look at him, obviously undisturbed by the fact he was halfnaked.  
"Haibara, please tell me I'm not hallucinating. P-please tell me this is true."  
The woman's lips curled up into a soft and relieved smile. There was hope.  
"I already saw that at the cemetery, to be honest- I-I just didn't want to raise any hopes before seeing you properly in the light. Kudo, you... y-you are you. Pandora cured APTX4869."

She was barely able to finish before the strong arms of her friend pulled her close to his chest, hugging her tightly. Tears began to roll down his red cheeks; Shinichi had no way of dealing with the unbearable joy he felt.  
"I-I'm me... I'm me..."  
Haibara let out a muffled chuckle against his chest, pinching his arm to force herself out of the embrace. Squeaking, Shinichi jumped a step backwards and glared at the woman, soothing his now aching spot.  
"Haibara!!"  
"Get dressed already."

Grumbling, the sleuth turned around and waited until she was gone to let go of the towel and slip into the new change of clothes she had taken from his own house. He felt like a new person, everything was the same yet so much more different.  
Pandora tight inside his grip, Shinichi marched out of the bathroom and settled down on the living room couch, shooting a smile at his friend.  
"Do you want a coffee? You could really need one. Or take a nap."  
The girl in her pajamas made a dismissve gesture with her hand, already on her way upstairs to the bedroom.  
"Don't wait for me... The last days were awful. I need some sleep..."  
The last sentence was accompanied with a soft yawn while the door closed behind her, leaving Shinichi to his own thoughts...

...rudely interrupted by a way too familiar feeling. Shinichi breathed out a deep sigh and rose from the couch, turning around to expect the intruder, yet no one was there.

_This is ridiculous..._

"KID come out already, I know you're there. I'm not giving you Pandora."  
No answer, not that Shinichi expected one. After a while of glaring into midair, the feeling died a little down and the sleuth fell back into the couch, picking a little inside his hair to flatten it again.  
Not too long, the feeling was back and Shinichi had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. His head snapped into the direction the urge pulled him into.  
"KID. I know you're here. Show yourself."  
Once again, the feeling died down.

_He knows I can sense Pandora as much as he can, right? It's literally impossible to sneak up on me unless he leaves his own half somewhere else._

Kaito on the other hand wanted to scream. He knew this very well, but he just couldn't bring himself to leave Pandora anywhere but his pockets. Right now it seemed like the world was hating him. Well, it had been worth a try. Now he at least knew there was no chance he couöd ever sneak up on the sleuth without leaving his own half elsewhere.

_You've got to be kidding me..._

Shinichi internally groaned as the urge became stronger, this time he just spun around where he expected KID to be and much to his utter surprise, he actually was. Kaito stood right in front of him, hands pushed into his pockets, one clenching Pandora. God, Kaito hated this day.  
"Pandora. Give it to me. Now," Kaito pressed out between gritted teeth; Shinichi's response was a mere amused snicker.  
"Yeah. How about no."  
He took a step closer to Kaito who backed away almost immediately. This was kind of amusing, it was like approaching a shy animal that would make a run for it as soon as Shinichi did anything unexpected. Yet this time, Shinichi knew he had to address the issue differently. He didn't want KID to run from him again, this time was over.

"KID, I... even if I wanted to, I can't."  
That actually got Kaito to pause. Why not? Seeing the other's stunned silence, Shinichi took this as his cue to continue his elaboration.  
"Your words were 'This will be over. All of it.' KID..."  
Shinichi bit down onto his lip, swallowing whatever leftover anger he had concerning the phantom thief. He did not want to fuck this up a second time.  
"...Look at me, I have my body back. I'm Kudo Shinichi. I'm finally myself. Finally, thanks to Pandora. I... what if...?"  
Eyes widening, Kaito stared at the uncomfortable detective. He knew what he wanted to say.

_What if he loses his body again as soon as he gives up Pandora? What if he returns to Edogawa Conan?_

The tension between the two counterparts increased tenfold, nearly electrifying the air around them. Both selfish for their own reasons, both unwilling to back down from their opinions and goals.

Shinichi wanted Pandora to stay as it was. It brought him advantages beyond measurements, he knew for sure no one would ever be able to hide from a detective being able to work 24/7 on a case without unnecessary breaks for sleep and food. He was finally Kudo Shinichi again, and the risk was high he had to give up his body again just to make things right. Shinichi didn't want to give up something he loved and cherished, never again, especially now that he was able to find KID whereever he went, no matter how far away this was.

Kaito wanted to restore Pandora for his own peace and sanity, it wasn't like him to continue bothering other people with it. Pandora was a danger itself, if any more people would become contaminated by the blood, an all out war was sure to break out.  
Kaito had to keep Pandora himself, it was the only goal he had left inside his life. He wanted to let go of his past, let go of Shinichi, let go of everything that ever reminded him of his time moonlighting as Kaitou KID. He wasn't Kaitou KID, he was Kuroba Kaito, and he never wanted anyone to see him as anything else. He was sick of it, sick of the secrets, sick of being unable to show his real self, wear masks of himself just so nobody would see his red skin.  
Everything would be over as soon as Pandora was in his possession again.

Finally, Kaito opened his mouth, face cold.  
"That is not my concern. Give it to me. Or I will use force."


	28. Want a Gem, Gain a Friend

Shinichi stared at the magician in front of him, dumbfounded, thoughts coming to a screeching halt.  
"What?"  
"This gem is dangerous. I spent my life to seal it away. You don't know for sure if it will take your body and I am sincerely apologetic if it will. But this needs to end."

The sleuth pinched the bridge of his nose, thoroughly done with this discussion.  
"I know what you are talking about, I understand. But this gem gives me advantages to no end. I can work 24/7 on a case. Exhaustion doesn't wear me down from any project. Forgetting to feed myself isn't a problem either, I don't need food nor water. I am immortal, I can spend centuries learning everything I can get my hands on."  
He paused, looking up into Kaito's face to search for any kind of sympathy, yet failed to recognize any.  
"KID, I am able to prevent murders if I can be attentive at every minute of the day. The possibilities are endless. Weapons don't threaten me anymore, a bullet to my head isn't going to leave anything but a scratch after Pandora's work. I could solve so many risky cases with this; instead of sending a special squad team I would just deploy myself and still make it out alive. I-I..."

The threat of the Black Organization rushed through his brain and Shinichi made an involuntary gasp.  
"I-I could destroy the Black Organization all by myself. What are they gonna do? Shoot me? Don't make me laugh. I could make millions of people feel safe-"  
"Kudo Shinichi."  
Said one shut his mouth with an audible click, confused eyes staring at KID. He seemed... upset. Downright angry.  
"I cannot believe you. Not even you could do anything against a surprise attack from behind, could you? No matter Pandora or not. At last, the only thing you will do is serving Pandora on a silver plate to the Black Organization if you rush in like this."

Kaito gave him a second to progress his words, yet as Shinichi wanted to open his mouth he cut him off again. Now was his turn.  
"And despite that, you forgot a small yet important detail. Edogawa Conan is dead. Kudo Shinichi is dead. You do not exist anymore, Meitantei."  
Shinichi froze, eyes wide. He had completely forgotten that.

_That... that's true... I don't exist anymore..._

Shinichi narrowed his eyebrows at Kaito, realizing what this meant. This was actually to his benefit; amusement began to glim inside his sapphire eyes.  
"...if you leave me here without Pandora, as a mortal, you will sign my death certificate. I can't stay where people recognize me, and without a passport I can't leave either. I have nothing, not even a longtime place to stay. I can't even sleep in my own house."  
Kaito narrowed his eyebrows, trying to figure out what Shinichi was hinting at. As it hit him, his eyes grew wide and he shook his head no almost immediately, backing a step away.  
"No way. No chance, Meitantei. I want to leave this all behind. I can't."  
"You can, KID, and you will if you ever want to see my half."  
The corner of his lips twitched; Shinichi was trying so bad to hold back his grin. He had KID in his hand and oh god, it felt so good.

After a long glaring contest, Kaito's shoulders slumped down and he breathed out a deep and painful sigh.  
"Fine. Fine. You can come with me. But if you dare to meddle with my life, I will throw you out immediately."  
"Wise choice. Don't worry about that, I'm not interested in ruining your life."  
Shinichi knew KID's moral code forbade him to just drop him off anywhere else and vanish on him again. Finally. Finally he had KID all to himself, finally he could watch his life with his own eyes, not through KID's. Accompanying the magician would be a great experience for him, especially since both of them were immortal. A feeling of joy overcame Shinichi, he could barely contain his grin.

"My flight goes this evening, 10pm. I will have a boarding pass ready for you."  
Kaito turned on his heel and left the house; as soon as the doors closed behind him he let out an exasperated sigh. Kudo Shinichi, accompanying him? An imaginary red flag was waving frantically in front of his inner eye. Not only was he going to know his civilian identity, he had a first class ticket to watch over him like a hawk.  
He slowly took the steps down towards the porch, mind already going off to find a way to smuggle Shinichi with him.

***

Shinichi felt overjoyed by the time the door closed behind KID. Lips curling up into a wide grin, he plopped down onto the couch and made a small list of things he wanted to take along with him. Definitely one or two books.  
Around lunchtime, his sensitive ears picked up a door opening.

_Haibara must be awake again._

Only a few minutes later, a still tired professor shambled downstairs, yawning as soon as she reached her best friend.  
"Kudo...? You look so happy."  
Shinichi rolled his eyes mildly amused, then nodded onto his list.  
"KID was here. We made a deal. I will give him Pandora if he takes me with him. Much to my surprise, and after lots of complaining, KID said yes. I'll be leaving this evening..."  
Haibara stared at her best friend with sleep deprived eyes, trying to understand what he was telling her.

_Shinichi? Leaving? Leaving... me?_

Her face twisted into a somewhat half smile. It wasn't going to be the same without the sleuth. She had just gotten him back and now he was leaving for real? Well, at least he wasn't dead.  
"Good luck... You will need it. Are you really sure about this?"  
Shinichi paused and looked up from his list, pen clenching inside his hand. Was he sure?  
"Absolutely. I... I can't explain it, but he has become someone I truly respect. Watching his life was the only distraction I had inside the coffin. He... he made such a lonely impression."  
The sleuth let out a dry laugh, sapphire eyes going back towards his paper.  
"I always imagined KID's persona to be surrounded by lots of people. But he wasn't. KID rarely ever spoke, he never met up with anybody- I have the feeling KID doesn't even remember how it is to have someone close, around him. He is so unlike the person he used to be... it's almost like all his life has been drained from him."

Haibara stared at her friend in utter disbelief; suspicion rose inside her. Yet she allowed Shinichi to continue.  
"Things will never be the way they used to be, I know that. But I want to help him... It physically hurts to see him like this. KID used to shine whereever he went. I don't ever want to see him cry again... I will take care of him and protect him as well."  
The professor raised an eyebrow, then suddenly smiled and turned away to hide her expression."  
"You do you. Just don't get into trouble."

While Shinichi eyed her confusedly, Haibara chuckled. To her, Shinichi sounded just like he used to when it came to Ran.


	29. Security

With his small suitcase packed, Shinichi arrived at the airport, carefully eying his surroundings. It had been only a few months since his 'death', the chance people recognized him was still as high as ever. The adult breathed out a soft sigh and shook his head. He couldn't wear his favorite suits anymore because even now he looked very much like Edogawa Conan. He didn't worry much about his identity as Kudo Shinichi, it had been more than a decade since Shinichi's own 'death' and he doubted public would draw conclusions as fast as he was going to hush through security.

_I wonder where KID is._

Shinichi closed his eyes and took a deep breath to clear his mind, then just followed his inner need of finding Pandora. It led him through a few halls, past the mail station and even past a few fastfood courts, only for him to lock his eyes automatically onto a person with unruly brown hair, hemd and a pair of jeans. He had a black suitcase behind him while his fingers flew graciously over the keys of his phone, giving away a great amount of talent and focus on his movements. It didn't surprise Shinichi in any way how good he seemed to blend into the mass; although he was able to catch tiny movements in the corner of his eyes to scan his surroundings.  
Shinichi knew for sure, KID had also become aware of him.

_No doubt, that's KID._

Without hesitation, Shinichi marched over towards his magician and gave him a good look up and down his body. He was definitely going to remember his outlooks.  
"Well, I'm here," Shinichi awkwardly announced himself. The corners of Kaito's lips tugged into a halfsmile as he wordlessly held out a small bunch of papers, not looking up from his phone.

Shinichi, already knowing what this was, glanced over the papers and took note of the important details. Not only was there a fake identity for him, it also sounded... familiar? At least the last name.  
"...why did you give me the name Kuroba Shinobu?"  
Kaito finally bothered to look up from his oh so important phone; and that was when it hit him.

_Kuroba Kaito!_

Shinichi took a step back in utter surprise.  
"Allow me to introduce myself."  
The young man bowed gracefully towards the detective and a rose appeared out of nowhere inside his hand; Shinichi was far too dumbfounded to be able to deduce where it came from.  
"Kuroba Kaito, magician extraordinare. A pleasure to meet you, Meitantei."

Shinichi didn't know what to say as he kept staring into those mischievous indigo eyes. His company seemed more than pleased to have caught him off guard, yet it didn't last long for Shinichi to find his voice again.  
"You are Kuroba Kaito. I... I've seen you on television."  
"The great detective watches my magic shows? I'm flattered."

And while Kaito took that as his cue to turn around and walk forward towards the line of security, Shinichi just dumbly followed behind, left to make his own deductions.

_No wonder he gave me his last name. I knew we looked pretty similar but this is downright creepy. It's no problem for us to pass as twins, especially on a flight from his home country. Not a bad idea._

All of a sudden, Shinichi stopped, and so did Kaito. Mere seconds before security, Kaito held out his hand behind himself and Shinichi knew what he wanted.  
They needed to hide Pandora.  
Shinichi had to give him Pandora, for the magician to hide it.  
Oh no.

Very slow and trembling to his last cell, Shinichi slipped his glowing gemstone into Kaito's hand, then latched onto his back and clung onto his hemd from behind, shivering and close to tears.  
"I-I can't-!" he whisperyelled into his ear and Kaito took a sharp breath through his nose. When was the last time he had been touched by someone? It was weird, and moreover uncomfortable.  
But he understood he couldn't shake Shinichi off, Kaito knew what the sleuth was going through and it was awful to say the least.  
"Five minutes, Meitantei. Five minutes. Hold on. It will be fine," he uttered back to him and Shinichi swallowed. He needed to trust onto Kaito that he was safely leading them through the check of bags. He could only beg that none of them would have needed a body check as well.

_Entire five minutes._

Lucky enough for him, Kaito had asked the very last seconds before their turn for Pandora, thus Shinichi didn't have to go through this in the waiting queue.

_I-I can do this. This is not the end of the world. Pandora i-is safe. I'm touching the same Pandora is touching._

Yet the sweat on his forehead was obvious and Shinichi looked positively as pale as a ghost. His limbs were shaking and he had trouble keeping himself on his legs; his vision was blurring and his ears were ringing. Sheer and utter panic made itself comfortable inside Shinichi's body, the detective wanted to scream and cry at the same time. A faint "Sir, are you alright?" was audible from one of the security guards but Shinichi didn't react; he wouldn't have been able to put a grammatical correct sentence together anyway. He vaguely heard Kaito give an answer, and in the last minute before he was able to faint, he felt the familiar texture of Pandora inside his hands.

A breath of relief passed his lips- the sleuth slumped against Kaito, exhausted, while said one moved them to the nearest bench and sat both of them down, observant eyes glancing over to Shinichi.  
"How do you feel?"  
"...is it over...?" he pressed out, trying to calm his racing heart.  
Kaito nodded and Shinichi allowed himself to close his eyes, cradling Pandora close to his chest. He never wanted to do any of this ever again.

Kaito felt somewhat responsible for this, even if none of it was their fault. While his body remained tense at the unusual contact (he could feel Shinichi's breath against his neck, holy shit) Kaito himself didn't want to push him off at the same time. Thus he sat there... offering himself as a comfortable surface for Shinichi... and observed every too close passenger as careful as possible, sending subsconcious deathglares into their directions.

**Author-chan picked Kuroba Shinobu because it would be easy to pass Shinichi off as his twin-**

**Also, as far as I know, Shinobu is japanese for 'Endurance' and Shinichi more than earned this title for his patience-**


	30. Restoring Pandora

Kaito eyed Shinichi warily from the corner of his eyes, quietly strolling along towards their gate. Time was closing in for them to board the plane, and Kaito knew Shinichi was about to go through the same torture two hours later back out of the security. The sleuth made a much calmer impression on him but Kaito couldn't have been fooled, his hands were still trembling, disguised by hiding them inside his pockets. Still, Kaito could tell with ease.

"Meitantei."  
Shinichi froze and turned around, yet found himself not liking the expression Kaito made. Or didn't make, because he was wearing his goddamn pokerface and he was sure what was about to follow would pry another piece from his sanity.  
"We need to reunite Pandora. Now."  
Shinichi narrowed his eyebrows and took a short glance around to make sure nobody was listening in but he already knew KID had done that before even addressing him.  
"Here?!" he hissed under his breath, "With thousands of people around?!"  
"Pandora is going to bleed inside the airplane where we don't have the opportunities to hide the blood. We both know that. Despite that, look at yourself, you are a shaking wreck after five minutes of security."

The sleuth breathed out a deep sigh, fingertips aimlessly brushing over his own half of Pandora, hidden inside his pocket. He had a good point, and Shinichi knew that. Maybe it was for the better, at least for now. Shinichi covered up a small grin by nodding towards the nearest toilets.  
"We should do it there, if any."  
Pleased yet suspicious about the sudden agreement of Shinichi, Kaito took a slow turn and proceeded to hurry over towards the toilets. Shinichi noted that every step was gracefully, planned, and he didn't make any noise while walking. So much to being a retired phantom thief, he still was as good as KID used to be, without any doubt.  
The reason for giving in was simple. Considering his research, KID had managed to split the gem by himself. There was no reason Shinichi wasn't able to do this again by himself to contaminate himself with the blood. This was actually a good idea, if KID wasn't going to come in contact with the newly shed blood, he wasn't going to become affected by it anymore.

The obnoxiously loud airport came to a silence as soon as the door closed behind them, hiding thek away inside the male bathroom. Shinichi glanced at the mirror and whinced, he had never worn so much make up to disguise his red skin. That was the only thing he wouldn't care to miss.  
Kaito shimmied into a cramped stall and pulled Shinichi after him who proceeded to shut the door. For a moment, sapphire stared at indigo, until both men pulled out their halves and examined them for the last time. Shinichi didn't really like putting Pandora back together but sometimes he had to sacrifice something for a short period of time.  
Finally, Kaito took Shinichi's wrist and pressed the pulsing halves together, not surprised to see a glow emitting from both of them. Shinichi couldn't help but let his attention wander to Kuroba's slender fingers. They were long, slim, perfect for a magician of his talent. His hand was cool against Shinichi's flushed skin, and it somewhat calmed the young detective.

Kaito pulled back, together with him a full gem. Silence fell over the two of them before Kaito pocketed Pandora and forced his lips into a smug grin.  
"Looks like I've once again stolen from you, detective," and this was so KID, so Kuroba to say, that Shinichi felt his cheeks growing warm at the fond memories he saw rushing past his inner eye. He forced back a snarky reply and opened the stall door, somewhat weak on his legs. He hadn't noticed it before but his knees felt wobbly, like a marathon had been forced upon him mere minutes ago. Kuroba, bless his pokerface, looked pretty much the same as he had before but Shinichi noted less grace inside his steps.

Opening the door back into the busy airport was the greatest mistake Shinichi had felt himself doing. His legs were pudding, his vision was blury, and it was becoming worse by the second. Breath caught in his lungs, he turned to face Kuroba, hand searching for a railing to support himself.  
"K-Kuroba, I feel weak..." he pressed out in a hoarse voice, mildly surprised to hear a somewhat similar response from the retired thief. Kuroba as well seemed barely able to keep himself on his legs, sweat let his hair stuck to his forehead, soft gasps for air made it past his quivering lips, and Shinichi would have liked the image if it wasn't for the fact he began to see dark spots dancing in his vision.

_This was a big mistake._

***

Haibara sighed, staring down at the two men occupying her guest room. It had already been cramped inside the guest room she had used to live in as Agasa-hakase had still been alive, which was now the territory of two sleeping individuals she would have loved to whack the living hell out of.  
"How could they have been this reckless..." she muttered, taking a few notes on a paper she had been using to fill new information about Pandora in.

It hadn't been easy to receive the approval to take care of Kuroba Kaito, worldfamous magician, and his unknown twin Kuroba Shinobu, yet Shinichi luckily had her number saved as an emergency contact. With proof that she was related to him as close as they were, she had been able to become approved as a caretaker.  
"Approximately 14 days have passed without any change of condition..." Haibara mused, eyes lingering on the two men for a bit longer. She wasn't scared the slightest bit, she had seen the same death-like coma on Conan once and was now quite sure what this was and that it was going to fade after a while.

Haibara closed her observation report, sighing, and went to prepare herself some dinner. This time, it was just going to be an additional person she had to take care of.  
Yet this entire matter was interesting; according to what she had found, KID and Kudo must have restored Pandora at the airport. A clever move one might have thought, as the blood might have given them away on the plane and the trip through security must have been a living nightmare. Who could have known the loss of Pandora's powers would have caused this kind of disturbance inside those two bodies?

The young hakase patiently began to boil some water, still deep in thought. It was clear what was going on, well, at least she assumed it was. Pandora had taken a good toll on these two, and now that it was gone, KID and Kudo most likely had to adjust again.

Which meant a death-like coma to catch up on all the sleep they had missed because of Pandora's powers.

Haibara made a mental note to stock up her storage, most likely guessing these two were going to eat for six people as soon as they would wake up. For now, she had locked Pandora into her safe, and she was going to keep it locked away until either of them awoke.

**Author-chan is feeling a bit mean-**

**Now that Pandora's powers have vanished from Shin-chan and Kaito, their bodies have to adjust to needing their own power again to survive. Which means, a long ass nap, a whole load of food afterwards, and some serious mental exhaustion-**

**Which means none of them has the power to stop snuggling the other in bed screeeee-**


	31. A Lifetime Curse

Kaito opened his eyes to be greeted by chirping birds and the sunlight pooling through a window into the room. Dizzy, he allowed his eyes to wander through the room, yet he felt too much out of it to properly registrate anything his eyes were telling him. Kaito felt warm, cozy, so comfortable he didn't even want to move. Warmth was collecting at his stomach, it had been a long time since Kaito had had such feelings, even if numbed down by his recent awakening.  
Indigos closed and Kaito allowed himself to sink into a lasting daze, scooting closer to this incredibly cozy source of heat right next to him. Somehow, it made him feel at peace...

His reddish arm in front of his eyes went just past his mind like a small innocent bird.

**A few hours ago**

Clipboard in hand, Haibara mused over the notes she had taken on her two patients, a damping cup of tea sitting untouched on the table in front of her. It was quiet without her best friend running straight into danger, maybe a bit too quiet considering Haibara's personal opinion, yet she also welcomed this break from all the stress she had been succumbed to the past months.

_It has been three weeks now since KID and Kudo wanted to travel together... Three weeks since they have last been awake._

Haibara bit down onto the small pen she was tapping impatiently down against her papers, trying to suppress the the voice of reason deep down inside her that honestly questioned how long this coma was going to last. She wasn't even quite sure how many months of sleep and nutrients both Shinichi and KID had missed due to Pandora. Was it really catching up to them? Was it something else that had forced them into a death-like sleep? Haibara didn't know the answer and it annoyed her to no end.  
Her eyes wandered down towards her lonely cup and a smile hushed over her lips before she took it, lifted it and enjoyed a sip of her favorite brand.

Which she nearly got in the wrong way as the doorbell rang soundly, startling her. Coughing, the woman stood up and marched towards the door, trying to calm a bit down before peeking through the doorspy, only to pause in astonishment. There was a woman in front of her door, and she was breathtaking. Smooth and silky dark red hair, a black shoulderfree blouse and a pencil skirt, together with a quite expensive looking pair of highheels.

_Does she need directions? Is she lost?_

Haibara fought herself for a moment yet opened the door, forcing a pleased expression upon her arrival.  
"May I help you?"  
The woman tilted her head, eyes that had seen death and beyond slowly sliding up and down her body, examining every inch. Her voice was gentle, luring, sweet like candy. No doubt, this woman was special.   
"Yes, you may. Can I come inside?"  
A soft breeze played with her hair, and she brushed a bit of it back behind her ear. It was uncomfortable to say the least, Haibara knew this woman was more than she was giving away at the first gaze. Her entire aura reeked of someone unique, someone not quite fitting with the world as it was. Haibara didn't quite know what to make of her. She didn't seem to be a threat, she wasn't what Haibara would confirm as a dangerous adult or god beware, someone with the same personal aura of a member of the Black Organization, and yet she struggled to allow her to come into her house.

The woman immediately eyed the interior of Haibara's home, and said one felt only more cornered. What was she thinking, letting such a person inside her room? This beauty to her was unnatural, it was almost like her entire appearance was calling to her, luring her to come close.  
"It's my pleasure to meet you, Haibara-san," the woman smiled, yet her eyes kept roaming over the place, almost as if she was trying to find anything. Haibara narrowed her eyebrows, taking a step back from her, even if her entire body was urging her to come closer.  
"You know me?" Haibara finally asked, trying to remain innocent, "I wonder why."  
Her guest allowed herself a soft and high laugh, finally acknowledging her instead of her surroundings.  
"You are all over the news. Famous worldmagician Kuroba Kaito and his mysterious twin Kuroba Shinobu passed out in the middle of the airport, in broad daylight, and have remained inside a death-like coma ever since."

 _Is she a fan?_ Haibara wondered.

"Kuroba-kun and I..." she began, quietly, a hint of nostalgia filling her sweet voice, a hand extending to brush absentmindly over the table to her left, "...we used to be classmates. We didn't quite like each other... he loved to meddle with my business, and I certainly enjoyed meddling with his. It was a hate-love, you could say..." She trailed off, persuading eyes fixating Haibara's.  
"Where did you hide Pandora, Haibara-san?"  
Haibara's breath stopped for a moment, together with her heart. That was the reason she was here. A classmate? Probably a blatant lie. All she wanted was Pandora.

"I don't understand," Haibara responded firmly, taking a step towards her yet without much success of her taking the hint and leaving again the very way she came. Instead, the sweet smile she was giving her turned sorrowful, and Haibara could feel her own heart cracking into two. She felt bewitched by her guest, so captivated like it couldn't have happened under normal circumstances. Only reasons more for Haibara to force her guest out of the house.

"I'm certain you do, Haibara-san. Please excuse my rudeness... My name is Koizumi Akako," she introduced herself, "I came to save your friend and Kuroba-kun from their very death."  
Haibara narrowed her eyebrows, long gone the friendly smile she had greeted Akako with, replaced by a frown.  
"What are you talking about? I know what this coma is. It'll leave on its own, and there is nothing that will change it." "Oh, there is," Akako insisted, "you just don't know about it. At least, about this very important part of Pandora's curse. Allow me to explain."

Haibara swallowed yet her body began to move on its own. Slowly, with trembling hands, she led the mysterious woman forward into the depths of the house, and towsrds the chamber she had sworn to protect. What was she doing with her? Haibara wanted to throw her out but she couldn't, her body wouldn't obey her any longer.  
"Kuroba-kun..." Akako hummed, approaching the male resting inside the bed, a gentle hand placed onto his cheek to stroke it soothingly, "I knew you weren't able to handle Pandora like this... you infected yourself... and now you are going to die... you are such a fool..."  
Akako looked back up at her host, and Haibara automatically swallowed.  
"We need to split Pandora again. Kudo-san and Kuroba-kun need to be infected. This is the punishment Pandora bestows upon those who came in contact with it. It was far too late to lift the curse from them... their bodies relied for too long on Pandora's power... slowly, their life force will be drained from their shells... and if we don't act, soon all that remains of them is ash."

Haibara knew for sure she turned a shade paler.  
"How would you know?! The last ones who became infected with Pandora were able to die just like every human, too!"  
Akako let out a laugh so weak and hopeless that it overshadowed Haibara's panic, "You're mistaking 'dying' and 'dying like a normal human'. This is exactly what happened to the Keepers of Pandora as soon as they resurrected the stones. The lack of records might lead to the assumption, but I know better."  
"Why?!" Haibara exclaimed, agitated, she couldn't believe her best friend was doomed for such a fate, "How exactly are, of all people, you the one who knows about this so well?! This is just blatant nonsense without any proof!"

Akako's head lowered ever so slightly, and her hand clutched the small handbag she was carrying. Haibara saw she was tensed but couldn't figure out why the answer would make her so uncomfortable until her words silenced the storm of emotions that was overcoming her.

"The last Keeper... she... she was my mother."


	32. Good Morning

"How long will it take for them to wake up again?"  
Akako had split Pandora and placed a half onto each KID and Shinichi, allowing the blood to do its work. Lucky enough for them, this night was about to be a full moon... exactly the time Pandora would begin to bleed, then worsen the more time passed.  
"As soon as Pandora infected them again, it won't be more than a few hours. Hopefully there will be enough time... Kuroba-kun and Kudo-kun have already slept a good while."

Haibara breathed out a soft sigh of relief, muscles untensing. There was hope. Not only had Akako freaked her out quite a lot with her sudden visit and especially the new information she had given her upon Pandora, the shock of possibly loosing her friend a second time was still gnawing deep at her bones. She wasn't ready to just give up again, throw out the chance of Shinichi finally being normal- as normal as an immortal being could be. 

"Would you like a cup of tea?" Haibara carefully offered, and didn't even bother to stifle that amused smile when Akako finally showed some sort of real human emotion on her face, in form of utter surprise.  
"You're inviting me for tea?"  
"Why not? You seem to know a lot about Pandora, Kuroba-kun and their history. I'm sure a comfortable tea time would easen both of us a bit up."  
Akako's lips curled up into an equally pleased smile, less sharp than it had been before.  
"Lead the way."

"So, how did you know who Kuroba Shinobu is?"  
Akako sipped at her green tea with a thoughtful expression, she hadn't quite settled down in this stranger's home but was less tensed than before. After all, now everything was in the clear and Kuroba's life had been saved.  
"I know many things unknown for the common eye. Kudo Shinichi and Edogawa Conan are one and the same... the black emperor against the white knight... Lucifer had warned me countless times if a heist was going to be a too close call. I used to warn Kuroba myself... though he rarely took it to heart, did it off as simple nonsense... A wonder he hasn't died yet."  
Haibara watched how a small displeased wrinkle appeared on Akako's forehead, immediately smoothed out as the witch gathered herself again.  
"Lucifer also let me know about the current condition of Kuroba-kun and Kudo Shinichi-kun... It was clear Pandora was able to heal Kudo-kun just as good of his predicament. And suddenly a person with close to no background shows up again, a few months after Edogawa Conan's death, looking exactly like an aged version of him? It was obvious."

A low chuckle passed her lips while Akako allowed herself another sip, her host mulling over what she had heard.  
"Lucifer... so... you're a witch. That's... quite crazy to believe."  
"Crazier than a poison which deages people? Crazier than a gem that grants immortality?"  
Haibara opened her mouth to argue but had to admit, Akako was right. A weak smile hushed over her lips, eyes glancing back at the file she had neatly spread out across the table for Akako to correct here and there a bit of the data.   
Her company, while she was an excentric person, was fairly enjoyable to her. A calm woman she was, intelligent and capable to teach Haibara things beyond her own beliefs. She had just met a witch, after all.  
Haibara smiled once again, hiding it behind her cup of tea. This required further investigation. Perhaps she was able to help her own studies far more than any scientist would have been able to.

***

Sapphire eyes sluggishly fluttered open, darkness greeting him. For a moment, he laid there, before his heartbeat started to quicken. A dream? Had it been a simple dream? And he was still inside the coffin, trapped, unable to move nor breathe, _air, I need air-_

"Meitantei...?" a voice asked quietly next to him and hands found their way around Shinichi's back, softly pressing him against a welcome source of heat. Absolutely different from the cold coffin. He... he was trapped, yes, but in warm arms of someone. Slowly, his view shifted from the insides of a dark coffin to concerned indigos staring right at him, trying to make out a sign that Shinichi was back.  
The second thing Shinichi noticed was the soft noise of wind a few meters away, a gentle breeze brushing against glass, early birds outside announcing a soon to be dawn, and he smelled a scent that was strange, foreign, and still so familiar it felt like home.

"KID..." Shinichi wheezed out, rapid breath slowing down the more seconds passed. Kaito didn't let go, kept pressing Shinichi gently against his warm body, even if the sleuth could feel how tensed he was, how much he disliked the contact-  
"Let go... I'm fine... It's okay..." Shinichi assured him and immediately, these warm arms slinked away from him, leaving behind a cold void. Sapphire eyes widened, and within a second Shinichi had a tight arm wrapped around the retired phantom, pulling him close, not wanting to let go. He needed the warmth, needed the security, needed the comfort-  
"You're not fine," Kaito breathed gently out, slowly shifting until Shinichi was able to rest his head on his chest, calmly listening to his heartbeat. Kaito knew that was what had calmed him down whenever he had had visions of Shinichi's experience, a rythmic noise close by.

As much as he wanted to pry Shinichi's hands off of him, Kaito knew better than to do that. One panic attack was far more than he would have wanted to see on his favorite detective. It was almost laughable to him.  
Judging by the room, he was still inside Japan, and had taken over a single bedroom of Haibara Ai. A guest bedroom, he was able to deduce. Kaito felt much more awake than he had been just a few hours ago, but Shinichi seemed still sluggish and unconcentrated.  
As much as he was tensed, he couldn't risk Shinichi freaking out again next to him. Perhaps...

Kaito leaned over, hand searching for the light switch, before he flipped it on. For a moment he had to shield his eyes because of the bright light, earning a groan of displeasure from his companion, but as soon as Kaito was able to catch a look at Shinichi, he knew the light was much appreciated.  
Slowly and awkwardly, Shinichi inched away, his mind finally beginning to progress properly what was going on. The first thing he did, much to Kaito's surprise, was stare at none other than Kaito himself.  
"KID, your body... it's red. I-it wasn't red before when we sealed Pandora."


	33. Back to the Start

Kaito paused, immediately lifting his arm to look at it. Red, deep and crimson red, just like when he used to be under the influence of-

His breath stopped for a moment as his eyes caught an all too familiar pair of stone halfs on the nightdesk. Almost immediately, Kaito lunged over Shinichi to snatch a half of the gemstone away, cradling it close to his chest, eyes blown wide.  
"What is going on...?! I thought-"  
Kaito interupted himself again, eyes wandering over to the seriously confused and worried Shinichi.

_He's just as red but not like before. His face is crystal clear, but the rest is... No. His hands are also normal._

"Meitantei, your skin... it's red, too."  
Shinichi's eyes grew wide and he looked down at himself, pushing the blanket which covered half of him away to take a better look at himself. True, the only clean parts of his skin were his hands, the rest of him was red. And out of the blue, his chest tightened. Something was missing. Something incredibly important was missing. Sapphires flickered towards the nightdesk and his breath stopped for a second as Shinichi took the second half, holding it protectively inside his hands, allowing Pandora's soothing energy to flow into his body again.  
"What is going on," Shinichi breathed out, trying to remain calm, "The gem was restored, we had our normal colour back, I-"

Kaito watched Shinichi ramble, slowly drifting further into panic. Yet before he could interfere, Shinichi himself paused, took a deep breath, then swiftly moved his legs out of the comfortable bed to get up. Kaito decided to follow.  
"Let's go to the bathroom," he suggested quietly and the sleuth seemed content with that. Quietly, the two of them shambled out of the room and Shinichi led them towards the Hakase's bathroom. As soon as he flicked the light switch on, both headed straight towards the large mirror, only to gasp at what they were seeing.

_My face is clean. My head is okay. Even my hands are fine. But the rest..._

Kaito turned, examining his behind in front of the mirror. He didn't even want to think about who undressed the two of them to their boxers.

_My back is just as red... What the fuck._

Shinichi quietly spoke up next to him, asking what Kaito dreaded to even think.  
"...are we still immortal?"  
Kaito stilled and turned to look at his companion, eyes holding a mix of confusion and fear. Shinichi's breath halted, he had never seen such an emotion in KID's eyes and he hated it with all his passion.  
"We could try to eat something," Shinichi carefully prodded further and earned himself a soft yet not very convinced nod.

By now, Kaito just moved along on autopilot. He knew they were still immortal. It was obvious and yet Shinichi still clung onto the faint string of hope that this all was just a big misunderstanding. Pandora inside his hands wasn't bleeding and yet, at the bottom line, he still had only a single half of Pandora and was just as unwilling to let go of it as before. It was so obvious.  
Kaito wanted to cry but his eyes remained dry. He wasn't going to let himself become weak in front of the guy who had made it his personal goal to arrest him years prior. It was merely an agreement these two had- nothing more, nothing less. But Kaito did seriously wonder why Shinichi was so keen on being physically close. The amount of times Shinichi had touched him in these few days was well beyond normal for him.

His thoughts got cut short as a glass of orange juice was set down in front of his nose. Kaito blinked twice and looked up at the unsure looking sleuth who had his own glass cradled inside his hands. Slowly, Kaito lifted his own and the two exchanged a determined nod, before the fluid found its way into their mouths.  
Not even a second later, both Kaito and Shinichi made a bee-line for the next sink, spewing it all into the drain and washing their mouths out, before Kaito and Shinichi shared a glance.

Silence. None of them dared to speak out the obvious.

"So... It's done. Nothing has changed," Shinichi breathed out in a defeated tone, shoulders slumping down. His companion instead looked onto his hands, quietly fiddling with his fingers, obviously thinking about what to do next.  
"We should wait for Haibara-san to wake up," he suggested after a while, "She will at least know what happened before we woke up in here..."  
Shinichi found himself nodding along, then flashing a glance at the clock. Suddenly, a small smile began to play around his lips, sapphires eying the former Kaitou in a playfully challenging manner.  
"I've got an idea to pass time. How good can you cook, Kuroba-kun?"  
Indigos narrowed at the amused detective in front of him, a weird feeling of nostalgia and excitement started to bubble up inside his stomach. A cooking match? Who was going to make the best breakfast for Haibara-san? Kaito found himself accepting the challenge without a second thought.

Only moments after, the two of them ran as chaotic as possible around inside the kitchen, trying to be as quiet as possible while grinning like idiots. Shinichi welcomed such a change of pace, all he regretted was to not offer the retired Kaitou a challenge earlier. Because now that he looked at him, indigo's blooming with excitement and the will to win this meaningless competition, he found himself recognizing the smug thief he used to know and cherish within him.  
Kaitou always appreciated a challenge, did they? Shinichi felt a bit stupid he hadn't realized this before.

"You've got something behind your ear," Kaito announced next to him, eyes staring at the sleuth's ear. Shinichi paused and slapped a hand onto his ear, trying to find whatever the phantom was hinting at, yet froze when he felt Kaito's hand brush against his before an egg appeared inside it.  
"There's my egg! You shouldn't resort to thievery, Meitantei."  
The sleuth stared at Kaito, dumbly trying to progress what just happened, before he rolled his eyes and turned back to the stove, unable to hide the smile on his lips.  
"Thievery is your part, I wasn't going to begin with it."

Kaito's lips curled up into an amused grin.


	34. Don't ever cook again, Shinichi

Haibara woke up to a weird smell wavering through her house, mixed with the scent of breakfast. Sluggish eyes blinked open as the hakase sat up, drinking in her surroundings.

_Breakfast? Who is making breakfast?_

She needed another moment to gather herself before this information sank in. "KID! Shinichi!" she hissed, immediately jumping out of her bed and within seconds, she had thrown her morning robe over and marched downstairs, tying the band around her waist.

_They're awake! And very much alive!_

Haibara stopped dead in her tracks as she entered the kitchen. Kaito, who had sensed her coming, dignified her with a small glance of superiority as he watched an utterly defeated Shinichi scrape the remains of absolutely disgusting black sludge out of a pot into the garbage can.  
"Okay okay, I'll admit defeat," the sleuth reluctantly agreed, putting the pot into the sink and facing Kaito with a soft pout. Said one merely shrugged and stuffed his hands into his pockets.  
"Cooking is mere chemistry. You should know not to mess with me when it's about chemistry."  
Shinichi grumbled something under his breath but the sour mood about his loss was gone immediately as he heard Kaito giggle. It wasn't usual for the magician to laugh these days, especially because it sounded so genuine and different than his KID-laugh, and Shinichi found he loved it.

He must have stared because the next thing he knew was a soft slap to the back of his head and Haibara whispering "If you stare too long at the sun you might get blinded," at him. Shinichi flinched- he hadn't noticed Haibara yet and her words didn't make it better. Turning away, he tried to hide a soft hint of red on his cheeks.  
"Shut the hell up, Haibara."  
"I made breakfast for you," Kaito instead announced and nodded over to a table full of admittedly delicious looking goods. Haibara's mouth began to water almost immediately and she took a seat without thinking.  
"That's... unexpectedly nice of you, KI- Kuroba-kun." She paused and looked up at her companion for approval to call him by his name, yet he didn't seem fazed.  
"Itadakimasu..."

Kaito watched her eat for a moment before sitting down as well, next to a still sulking Shinichi.  
"What happened?" was the first thing Kaito asked, voice hesitant and careful. He wasn't even sure he wanted to know what was going on. Haibara paused, then sighed and lowered her chopsticks again.  
"You were okay again... Mortal. But... I've got to know some information I've missed, apparantly... you've been too long under the influence of Pandora. The stone would have, while reclaiming its energy from your bodies, drained your entire life energy until your remains would have been nothing but ashes. So... We made sure to split Pandora again and infected you once more. Though this time we made sure to leave you a bit of a humanoid appearance, that's why your hands and faces are clean."  
Shinichi froze, realizing Haibara had most likely seen him naked and wiped him down from the blood, while Kaito had perked up at something else.  
"We?" he asked, suspicious.

Haibara, again about to stuff some delicious food into her mouth, paused once more. Akako hadn't been vocal about it but it was obvious she wasn't too fond of Kaito finding out about her visit. Yet, since she knew the magician would lose a good amount of trust in her if she wouldn't have answered, Haibara reluctantly opened her mouth.  
"I was surprised myself... Out of the blue, a woman showed up at the door. Claimed to be an old friend of yours, Kuroba-kun..."  
"Woman?" Kaito repeated, eyebrows narrowing. For a moment, his face turned a shade paler as realization overcame him.

_Aoko?!_

She hadn't arrested him yet. Did she forgive him? Kaito felt a wave of emotions overcome him he hadn't felt since long. He was scared, so scared, and at the same time he couldn't have been more excited. Haibara nodded.  
"Yes. She said her name was Koizumi Akako, an old classmate of yours."  
Kaito froze and swallowed dryly, face immediately turning stone cold. Shinichi, who had watched this, rolled his eyes unamused. This stupid pokerface of his.

_Obviously, he thought of someone else. I wonder who it is..._

"I see," Kaito finally broke his silence and Haibara took this as her cue to continue.  
"I didn't believe her at first, I even thought she was a secret member of the Black Organization... but she was quite convincing and she just had something about her that... I can't quite describe it but it was captivating. However..." Haibara pushed a bit of tasty goods into her mouth and chewed, then swallowed.  
"She told me all about Pandora's effects. Said Lucifer informed her about your condition, Kuroba-kun. If we didn't act fast enough, it would have killed you two. Kuroba-kun... were you aware Koizumi-san is a witch?"  
Kaito simply nodded, silent. This was a bit much to work with. So Akako knew exactly where he was now, huh?

Shinichi exchanged a worried glance with Haibara, of course noticing how much Kaito's mood had soured.  
"...what exactly was that blop of sludge you just threw away?"  
Almost in the same second, Kaito brightened up again and smirked, "Meitantei tried to make pancakes. And burned them."  
"You didn't warn me at all!" Shinichi cried out, sulking, cheeks heating up. He didn't like being called out on his sucky cooking skills.  
"Please don't ever cook again, Shinichi. I still need my kitchen and that pot is ruined," Haibara demanded with a deadpan expression and the sleuth slumped a little down on his chair, grumbling.  
"It's not like I have to again, I'm immortal."  
"Why did you even suggest a competition if you knew your cooking sucks?" Kaito chimed in and earned himself a glare which softened the moment he saw the amused glim inside Kaito's eyes. A good moment for revenge.  
"Because you looked so hopeless. I wanted to cheer you up. Competing with me always brightened you up."

Kaito froze, indigos growing wide in a mix of surprise and embarassment.  
"I wasn't hopeless. I'm used to this, it's no big deal. But... thank you, Meitantei."  
Satisfaction overcame Shinichi which turned into a soft flutter of butterflies at the soft and fond expression Kaito had on his face as he simply focused onto shuffling a deck of cards to distract himself.  
Haibara grinned into her cup of morning tea, desperately trying to hide it. Shinichi did a good work helping KID become a bit more approachable, the resentment and uncomfortableness the magician openly displayed had become less and less. She was going to ignore the fondness in Kaito's eyes whenever Shinichi spoke to him- at least for now.


	35. Why not stay a bit longer?

Kaito sighed to himself, inches before a curtain seperating him from an audience full of journalists. Kuroba Kaito was back inbetween the living... lately he did wonder if he was actually alive or undead.  
The detective behind him acted like he was reading a book while sapphire eyes obviously drilled into his body, trying to analyze him. Kaito could almost imagine the questions running through his mind.

_What is he feeling? Is he nervous? How is he handling the crowd?_

A part of Shinichi hoped to recognize a faint slither of the former phantom inside his companion. Long gone was his concentration about the book he had been reading, Shinichi had been almost sure he couldn't even pin the main topic of his lecture down. His focus was the one and only Kuroba Kaito who had to appear in front of the media to announce that yes, he was fine, and yes, he would be picking up the tour again. Shinichi genuinely wondered how Kaito's pokerface was going to change accordingly to the one society wanted him to have. A soft and gentle smile? A frown? Narrowed eyebrows? Sheepish?  
"Relax, detective," Kaito uttered quietly into his direction and Shinichi flinched in return, he didn't know he had been caught staring so fast. 

Kaito took a deep breath, then stepped past the curtain and onto the stage, his infamous "Ladies and Gentlemen!" booming over the crowd. Shinichi listened in on the muffled voice behind the curtain, closing his eyes to concentrate a bit. Kuroba Kaito's tour had become an utter mess; events that had been sold to fans had had to be cancelled, shows had been taken off and all in all, the fanbase was not pleased.  
Shinichi smiled as he heard Kuroba announcing that he was going to refund every single ticket he had been unable to perform for; it certainly was a loss of thousands including the venues and stadions he had booked to perform in, yet Shinichi knew his magician had racked up a whole lot of capital and could afford it. And after all, Shinichi had confidence Kaito would win the favor of his fans in no time again.

"-and due to personal and medical issues, I will need to cancel my tour and focus onto my own rehabilitation. But of course, this will not be the end of my shows, as I will return even greater than before."  
Applause was audible and a few minutes later, Kaito slipped past the curtain into the backstage area, only to be greeted by Shinichi with raised eyebrows. Both stared awkwardly at each other for a moment before the sleuth broke the eye contact and cleared his throat.  
"Well, that's that I suppose. What will you do now?"  
Kaito paused for a second, hand gripping his own half of Pandora who was happily pulsing inside his pocket. It was only a question of time before Pandora was going to bleed again.  
"I was planning on visiting an expert for caskets... and gather their opinion on a small and sealed pocket sized box to store Pandora in. Maybe I am even able to craft jewelry out of our halves... It would certainly make the entire process of passing security far easier for both of us."  
Shinichi nodded, silent, a shiver of horror running down his back as he remembered the hollow and haunting dread that had crept into his soul the moment he had been forced to part from his gem.

"I'd say we go back to Haibara and call it a day."  
Kaito nodded.  
"...- and on the way you can tell me who this Akako-san is you know."  
Stiffening, Kaito stared for a moment before a low chuckle passed his lips and he rolled his eyes, amused.  
"You're a detective. Find out yourself."  
Shinichi grumbled but shot an equal smirk back at him.  
"I will."  
His phone ringing snapped Shinichi out of the second staring contest within very few minutes; surprised he fumbled for his phone and picked up the call.  
"Speak of the devil... Haibara?"

Shinichi frowned for a second, then sighed and nodded, "Fine I will," before hanging up, looking back at the curious magician who was awaiting explanations.  
"Haibara asked us to pick up some things on our way back. Especially something to catch all the blood that's gonna come out of Pandora as soon as the bleeding increases again."  
Humming in response, Kaito turned on his heel and marched through a side entrance out of the building and towards a rented cab, Shinichi following behind. He wasn't quite fond of being in public since people had been constantly coming up to him for autographs; Kaito knew himself he wasn't quite the social butterfly he used to be.  
"Will you go in by yourself?"  
"You're not going to join?"  
A shake of his head was the answer and Shinichi couldn't say he was surprised. Kaito wanted a break from media and the troubles it brought with it, especially now that he was once again immortal and, due to being in possession of Pandora, likely to be discovered by an agent of the Black Organization.

At the nearest grocery store Shinichi stepped out of the car and flashed a last glance inside; his companion had been shuffling cards the past minutes to keep himself busy.  
"It'll only take a few minutes, I'll hurry."  
"Take your time, Meitantei."  
And on towards the entrance he went. Shinichi hated shopping; it was an awful amount of people surrounding him, he could never decide which microwaved goods he wanted to buy and at the end he would just stand for hours inside the coffee aisle, pondering which of his favorite brands he was going to buy next.

A bit lost, Shinichi stared at the amount of different wipes he could find, too many variations and too less time to keep standing like an idiot in front of them. It felt like hours with customers passing by before Shinichi finally reached into a shelf, only to flinch as he heard something drop close by. He turned, only to see a woman his age with brown hair that reminded him of his bittersweet love to Ran, and eyes that were the same as hers, just more exhausted and worn. For a moment Shinichi's heart stood still as the two stared at each other; said woman had dropped a pack of toilet paper she was going to take.

_This isn't Ran. This isn't Ran. She's the same and still so different. She isn't Ran. Everything is alright. Breathe, Shinichi._

His internal panic died down but it wasn't long until his analytical skills came to life. Wait... he had been shocked to see her, a woman so similar to his lost childhood love, so why was this woman staring at him like he had grown a second head, pale faced with horror creeping into her face?

"...K-Kaito...?" she whispered, quietly.


End file.
